Game Preview: Islanders vs Wild

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-25-6) VS MINNESOTA WILD (31-20-7)
1 P.M. BARCLAYS CENTER - BUY TICKETS
TV: MSG+, MSG GO
RADIO: 88.7FM - WRHU, 660AM/101.9FM - WFAN
POSTGAME: ANDERS LEE KANCER JAM
Coming off a pair of 3-0 shutout wins, the New York Islanders look to extend their winning streak to three games when they take on the Minnesota Wild in a President's Day matinee (1 p.m., MSG+, MSG GO).
The two-game winning streak - the Islanders first since winning three straight in mid January - has the Isles back in a playoff position, as they leapfrogged both the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card. As of Monday, the Islanders and Hurricanes are tied with 64 points apiece, with the Isles holding the ROW tiebreaker (26 to 24).

"We're kind of in the mentality right now where every game is the biggest game of the year," Jordan Eberle said. "We need to string together some points and obviously it starts with a couple of good goaltending efforts over the last two games."
Jaroslav Halak made 50 saves in his shutout over the Rangers on Thursday, while Thomas Greiss made 45 against Carolina on Friday. It was the first shutout of the season for each goalie, but the Islanders said keeping shots and chances down is still a priority.
"We're still giving up a lot of shots which is a little bit disappointing, but I think you look at the quality of the shots we're giving up and it's not as bad," Eberle said. "We're making it easier on our goalies to see the puck and shots from the outside. I think they can get into a bit of a rhythm that way and they play well. We'd still like to limit what we give up, but that being said we're heading in the right direction."

LINEUP NOTES:

UPDATE 10:50 a.m. Jaroslav Halak will start in goal, same skaters from Friday.
UPDATE 8:47 a.m. Greiss (lower body) placed on IR retroactive to Feb. 16. Christopher Gibson emergency recalled from Bridgeport.
"Obviously it's lower body. I don't suspect it's going to be a huge amount of time, but I don't want to speak out of turn," Weight said. "If you say two weeks or four weeks and they find something else, I don't want to put him in that position. Certainly lower-body injuries for goalies are a little tougher to decipher. He's on the IR. He played great and hopefully he can take that energy he had and feeling and get back quick."
ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES:

SEASON SERIES:

This is the second and final regular season meeting between the Islanders and Wild this season. Minnesota took the first meeting of the season 6-4, scoring three goals in the opening 7:26 of the first period.

BY THE NUMBERS:

133:16 - The Islanders current shutout streak. The Isles haven't allowed a goal since 6:44 of the third period in Tuesday's loss to Columbus - over two full games.
30 - goals for John Tavares. The Islanders captain hit the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his career after being credited with an empty netter on Friday.
26:50 - Ryan Suter's average ice time. The Minnesota defenseman averages the second most TOI/GP in the NHL, four seconds behind Drew Doughty.
Power Play: Islanders 21.9% - 6th, Wild 21% - 10th
Penalty Kill: Islanders 73.9% - 30th, Wild 80.6% - 16th

THE WILD:

Last Game: L 3-2 (SO) vs Anaheim
Leading Scorers: Goals: Eric Staal - 26
Assists: Ryan Suter - 31
Points: Eric Staal - 52
The Wild are in a similar situation to the Islanders as they are fighting to hold onto a playoff berth.
Minnesota currently holds down the second wild card in the Western Conference with 69 points, one up - with a game in hand - on the Calgary Flames (68 points) and two up on the LA Kings (67 points).
The Wild are 5-3-2 over their past 10 games and are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss, going a franchise-record 11 rounds against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
Eric Staal leads the Wild in goals (26) and points (52) and has six points (4G, 2A) in his last six games. The Islanders can also expect to see a lot of Ryan Suter, as the Wild defenseman averages 26:50 TOI/GP, the second most in the NHL.
WILD PROJECTED LINES:
| FORWARDS | | --- | | LEFT WING | CENTER | RIGHT WING | | NINI NIEDERREITER | MIKKO KOIVU | MIKAEL GRANLUND | | JASON ZUCKER | ERIC STAAL | CHRIS STEWART | | ZACH PARISE | MATT CULLEN | CHARLIE COYLE | | DANIEL WINNIK | JOEL ERIKSSON EK | MARCUS FOLIGNO |

| DEFENSE | | --- | | RYAN SUTER | MATT DUMBA | | GUSTAV OLOFSSON | JARED SPURGEON | | NICK SEELER | NATE PROSSER |