Sabres at Islanders preview

SABRES (31-36-10) at ISLANDERS (45-26-7)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+ 2, MSG-B, NHL.TV

New York has not qualified for the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. The Islanders trail the Washington Capitals by three points for the Metropolitan Division lead and are two ahead of the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins. They can also clinch a berth if they get one point against the Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens lose in any fashion to the Winnipeg Jets, or if Montreal loses in regulation.
Buffalo, which will miss the playoffs for the eighth straight season, is 0-4-1 in its past five games and 1-10-2 in its past 13.

Players to watch

Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.
Islanders forward Jordan Eberle has three goals and one assist in his past three games. Two of the three goals were game-winners.

They said it

"The one thing that we talked about was Pittsburgh's breathing down the Islanders' neck, just to get home-ice [advantage in the Eastern Conference First Round]. So they've got a lot to play for, and we've got a lot to prove obviously as a group, especially with our young players here. It's going to be a great atmosphere, it'll be a great test for our guys tonight." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"We set out to do something this year; the first step is we've got to get an invite to the dance. So we were trying to clean up ourselves, comb our hair and look nice. We've put a lot of work into it, so hopefully someone would notice and we could get in." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz

Sabres projected lineup

Victor Olofsson
-- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Jason Pominville
Conor Sheary -- Johan Larsson -- Alex Nylander
Scott Wilson -- Zemgus Girgensons -- Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin -- Will Borgen
Lawrence Pilut -- Brandon Montour
Marco Scandella -- Casey Nelson
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched:None
Injured:Vladimir Sobotka (upper body), Evan Rodrigues (upper body), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Rasmus Ristolainen (illness), Jake McCabe (upper body), Matt Hunwick (upper body)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Josh Bailey -- Brock Nelson -- Michael Dal Colle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Leo Komarov -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Ross Johnston, Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg
Injured:Tanner Fritz (undisclosed), Valtteri Filppula (upper body), Andrew Ladd (knee)

Status report

Housley said Sobotka "had something flare up" and will not play. McCabe and Rodrigues traveled with the Sabres and are considered day to day. "I wouldn't count them in the lineup tonight," Housley said. Ristolainen and Bogosian did not make the trip. … Fritz did not participate in the morning skate. Trotz was hoping to have an update later Saturday.

Stat pack

The Islanders are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games against the Sabres. … New York is 36-2-2 when it scores at least three goals. … The Islanders have not clinched a playoff berth in March since 1990.