Blue Jackets at Islanders preview

BLUE JACKETS (11-10-4) at ISLANDERS (16-5-2)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Islanders return home after going 0-2-1 on a three-game road trip to California. They extended their team record point streak to 17 games (15-0-2) before losing the past two in regulation. New York scored two goals in the three games.
It's the second game of a back-to-back for the Blue Jackets; they wrapped up a three-game homestand with a 5-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Friday. Columbus has won five of its past seven games (5-2-0).

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand has two goals and seven assists during a six-game point streak.
Islanders forward Derick Brassard has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"Huge game. We win [Friday], but if we lose this one, it's .500 again. To gain some ground here, for us a club to be where we want to be in the standings, we've got to win these games." -- Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist
"You go through adversity throughout the course of a season. We had a little bit to start, and then obviously we went on a pretty good run. We probably won some games throughout that streak that we shouldn't have or didn't deserve to. … The last two [games] weren't great by us, but it's good to get home. It's a tough trip, we're happy to be home now. This is a big one, obviously a divisional game. It's a big one for us to get back on track." -- Islanders forward Matt Martin

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Sonny Milano -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Josh Anderson
Nick Foligno -- Alexander Wennberg -- Cam Atkinson
Alexandre Texier -- Riley Nash -- Emil Bemstrom
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- David Savard
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Dean Kukan
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Scott Harrington, Eric Robinson
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Markus Nutivaara (upper body), Kole Sherwood (oblique)

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

The Blue Jackets did not have a morning skate. … Leddy, who did not play in a 4-1 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday because of a lower-body injury, is expected to play. … Kuhnhackl, who was injured Oct. 25, skated Saturday but is not ready to return.

Stat pack

Columbus has scored first in 10 straight games, tying its record set from Dec. 19, 2013-Jan. 10, 2014. … Werenski has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past nine games. … The Islanders' power play was 0-for-11 on the road trip.