Blue Jackets at Islanders preview

BLUE JACKETS (28-23-4) at ISLANDERS (27-24-6)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets, who defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Saturday to end a five-game losing streak (0-4-1), last won two straight Jan. 7-8. Columbus is 1-3-0 during a stretch when it plays nine of 10 games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Goaltender Jaroslav Halak will make his fifth start in six games for New York, 2-4-1 in its past seven games.
The Blue Jackets and Islanders each have 60 points, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.
Islanders rookie center Mathew Barzal has six assists in his past two games and 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in his past 15 games.

They said it

"To me, in the National Hockey League, it's a box of chocolates.You just never know what you're going to get, on how teams play you, [or] how our team's going to be. You just never know what's going to happen. So, you've got to remain calm and consistent, and just try to be as good as you can be as a team." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"We have three games in four [days], three games we have to win. It's fun playing for something every night. We are in a position to play for something and we have to take it serious and go have a great effort tonight. " -- Islanders coach Doug Weight

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Alexander Wennberg -- Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Jussi Jokinen
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- Markus Nutivaara
Dean Kukan-- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Scott Harrington, Markus Hannikainen
Injured: Ryan Murray (upper body), Sonny Milano (torn oblique)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Cal Clutterbuck
Ross Johnston -- Casey Cizikas -- Jason Chimera
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Sebastian Aho
Thomas Hickey -- Ryan Pulock
Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Scratched: Alan Quine, Dennis Seidenberg
Injured:Tanner Fritz (lower body), Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body), Scott Mayfield (lower body), Shane Prince (lower body)

Status report

Columbus did not have a morning skate. Murray, who hasn't played since Nov. 27, and Milano, out since Jan. 8, each practiced Monday and traveled with the team to New York. It is unclear if they will be in the lineup. ... Clutterbuck will play after taking a stick to the throat and leaving in the third period Sunday.

Stat pack

The Blue Jackets had 50 shots on goal on Saturday and have at least 30 shots on goal in 10 of their past 14 games. ... The Islanders have allowed 210 goals this season, most in the League.