Stars at Islanders preview

STARS (17-13-1) at ISLANDERS (17-10-3)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-SW, NHL.TV

Hanzal missed seven straight games after sustaining the injury during a 3-0 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 28.
It's the second of a four-game road trip for the Stars, who won 2-1 in the shootout at the New York Rangers on Monday.
Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, who has 299 career NHL wins, is making his second straight start.
Defenseman Johnny Boychuk will likely return for the Islanders, who ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Monday.
Boychuk has missed the past three games because of a lower-body injury.
The Stars defeated the Islanders, 5-0, at American Airlines Center on Nov. 10.

Players to watch

Stars forward Jamie Benn has a point in five of his past six games. Benn has 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) and trails center Tyler Seguin by two points for the Stars lead.
Forward Andrew Ladd leads the Islanders with a plus-14 rating. He is the one of two players in the Eastern Conference with at least 14 points and at least a plus-14 rating (New Jersey Devils forward Brian Gibbons is the other).

They said it

"It's more earned because he's played so well. We've got a great start to the road (trip) here. We just want to keep it going." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on goalie Kari Lehtonen
"Win or lose, you're always refocusing and trying to come out with your best effort. Obviously, the last time didn't go the way we hoped and wanted. We'd like to return the favor here tonight." -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey

Stars projected lineup

Remi Elie -- Tyler Seguin -- Devin Shore
Jamie Benn -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Spezza -- Alexander Radulov
Gemel Smith - Martin Hanzal -- Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns --
Julius Honka
Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Jason Dickinson, Jamie Oleksiak
Injured:Marc Methot (knee), Antoine Roussel (elbow)

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

Hitchcock said Roussel, who was injured during a 5-3 loss against the Golden Knights last Saturday, isn't ready to return. … Hickey, who is on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 9, participated in the morning skate.

Stat pack

This will be Lehtonen's 624th NHL game. He will pass Miikka Kiprusoff for the most all-time by a Finland-born goaltender. … New York has won its past four home games against Dallas by a combined score of 23-11. … The Stars are 2-for-45 on the power play in their past 14 games; the Islanders have scored twice in their past 23 power-play opportunities.