Sabres at Islanders preview

SABRES (16-11-6) at ISLANDERS (21-7-2)
1 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The 23-year-old center has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) during his streak, which is tied with Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (Nov. 2-30) for the longest in the NHL this season. Eichel had two goals in a 4-3 victory against the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
The Sabres have won three in a row and are 5-1-3 in their past nine games.
New York returns home after a three-game trip (2-1-0) and a stretch of 10 of 13 games on the road (8-4-1). The Islanders, who are seeking their third straight win, are 11-0-1 in their past 12 home games. They have 21 wins in the first 30 games of a season for the first time in team history.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Victor Olofsson has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in his past 18 games.
Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov has allowed four goals over his past three starts, all wins. He shut out the Sabres in a 1-0 victory at Buffalo on Nov. 2.

They said it

"I've been fortunate; I've gotten some good bounces, I've had some good breaks lately and our team's been playing really well, so you put those things together, I'm the beneficiary of a lot of really good hockey plays out there. I'm just trying to keep it going. Obviously, you find confidence when you're going through a streak like this. It's no different for me." -- Sabres center Jack Eichel
"We're looking forward to getting home. We've been away from it for a while now, but I think we did a pretty good job of taking care of business when we needed to and turning the trip around and having a good response after a big trip out west." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Sabres projected lineup

Victor Olofsson -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jimmy Vesey -- Marcus Johansson -- Rasmus Asplund
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Jeff Skinner -- Evan Rodrigues
Jake McCabe -- Henri Jokiharju
Rasmus Dahlin -- Colin Miller
Brandon Montour -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Casey Mittelstadt, Conor Sheary, Zach Bogosian
Injured:Tage Thompson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body)

Islanders projected lineup

Ross Johnston -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Michael Dal Colle
Anders Lee -- Derick Brassard -- Jordan Eberle
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Noah Dobson -- Johnny Boychuk
Semyon Varlamov
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Leo Komarov
Injured:Nick Leddy (lower body)

Status report

The Sabres are expected to play 11 forwards and seven defensemen again. … The Islanders did not practice Friday. Leddy practiced Wednesday but did not play in a 3-1 win at the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Stat pack

Reinhart has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games. … New York has won seven straight at Nassau Coliseum. … The Islanders are 18-0-1 this season and 56-2-3 under coach Barry Trotz when they score at least three goals.