Skinner's return to Carolina with Sabres highlights week ahead

Jeff Skinner's return to Carolina with the Buffalo Sabres and the red-hot New York Islanders resuming their rivalry with the New York Rangers are among the highlights of the week ahead.
Here's a look at 5 things to watch:

1. Skinner returns to Raleigh

Jeff Skinner will face the Carolina Hurricanes for the first time with the Buffalo Sabres at PNC Arena on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-CR, MSG-B, NHL.TV).
Skinner was traded to Buffalo on Aug. 2 after playing his first eight NHL seasons in Carolina, where he had 379 points (204 goals, 175 assists) and won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the NHL in 2010-11. His 28 goals are second behind Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (30) and put him on pace to pass his NHL career high of 37 set in 2016-17.

2. Karlsson faces Senators in San Jose

Erik Karlsson will play his former Ottawa Senators teammates with the San Jose Sharks for the second time this season at SAP Center on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, TVAS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV). He was held without a point in his return to Ottawa, a 6-2 loss Dec. 1.
Karlsson has found his game nearly four months after he was traded Sept. 13 following nine seasons with the Senators. The two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman has at least one point in his past 12 games (one goal, 18 assists) since Dec. 19, tying the Sharks record set by Rob Gaudreau from Dec. 3-29, 1992 (19 points; 14 goals, five assists) and Jonathan Cheechoo from Dec. 26, 2005-Jan. 24, 2006 (19 points; 10 goals, nine assists).

3. Clash of the titans

Two of the top teams in the NHL will face each other when the Nashville Predators play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SNO, FS-TN, NHL.TV).
The Predators (25-15-5) are 3-0-1 following a six-game losing streak and getting healthy. Forward Viktor Arvidsson has scored four goals in six games after missing 21 games with a broken thumb. Defenseman P.K. Subban has three points (one goal, two assists) after he missed 19 games with an upper-body injury. Forward Filip Forsberg (upper body) and defenseman Yannick Weber (undisclosed) may not be far behind.
The Maple Leafs (27-12-2) are second behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the best record in the NHL and have won six of their past eight games.

4. Grapple for the Apple

The New York Islanders and New York Rangers play twice this week: at Madison Square Garden on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV) and Barclays Center on Saturday.
The Islanders (23-13-4) defeated the Rangers 7-5 in Brooklyn on Nov. 15 when veterans Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov combined for five points (one goal, four assists). They're on a six-game winning streak, 15-7-2 in their past 24 games and hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Robin Lehner is 7-0-0 with a 1.22 goals-against average, a .959 save percentage and one shutout since Dec. 18. He's the fourth goalie in Islanders history with a personal winning streak of at least seven games and first since Jaroslav Halak from Dec. 13, 2014-Jan. 2, 2015 (7-0-0).
The Rangers (17-17-7) defeated the Islanders 5-0 at the Garden on Nov. 21 behind 29 saves from Alexandar Georgiev to cap a 9-1-1 run, but they are 5-9-5 since to fall nine points out of the second wild card into the postseason from the Eastern Conference.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is two wins from passing Terry Sawchuk (445) for sixth in NHL history. He has 102 wins in overtime or the shootout and passed Jacques Plante (437) for seventh with a 4-2 victory against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 8.
Plante had 145 ties and Sawchuk had 171 ties playing before regular-season overtime was instituted in 1983-84.

5. Milestone watch

* John Tavares, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, is one goal from 300 in the NHL. The Maple Leafs host the Predators before visiting the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and returning home to face the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
* John Tortorella is one win from becoming the 19th coach with 600 in the NHL. The Columbus Blue Jackets are at the Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-O, NHL.TV), home against the Predators on Thursday, visit the Capitals on Saturday, and face the Rangers at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.
Tortorella, a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the NHL (2004, 2017) , is 599-476-104 with 37 ties in 1,216 NHL games with the Rangers, Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and Blue Jackets.
Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien has won 605 NHL games, 18th on the all-time list.
* Justin Williams is two goals from 300 in the NHL. The Hurricanes visit the Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-CR, NHL.TV) and the Lightning on Thursday before returning home to face the Sabres on Friday and the Predators on Sunday.
* Mike Smith is two shutouts from 40 in the NHL. The Calgary Flames are at the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, SNW, NHL.TV), and play the Colorado Avalanche, Panthers and Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.