Coach John Hynes has made one lineup change putting Stefan Noesen back into the lineup, while Blake Coleman will be out as a healthy scratch.
The points at stake Tuesday are extra valuable over the course of the next three games, when the Devils will face off against Metropolitan Division opponents.
"Just because of our division being so tight - it seems that how it is every year, the Metro is a tight division and every team seems to be good," said Severson, who will play with John Moore on the third defensive pairing against the Islanders.
"It's a fun division to play in because the games are competitive and we have the next week here where we play a lot of our rival and division teams," he added. "We're a desperate team looking for points, because you fall behind and it's tough to catch up again. You've got to be able to continue in the race and stay ahead, hopefully."
The Devils lost to the Islanders in the shootout the last time the two teams met.
Hynes is expecting a fun but intense matchup, playing the Islanders twice in a short amount of time.
"It's fun because they're a rival team," Hynes said. "Any time you play a team close together lots of times both teams remember what goes on, obviously you see the importance of the games, which I think adds to the emotion level."
This is how the Devils will line up against the Islanders:
Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Johansson-Zajac-Stafford
Wood-Zacha-Palmieri
Gibbons-Boyle-Noesen
Greene-Vatanen
Moore-Severson
Butcher-Lovejoy
Schneider
Kinkaid
One advantage Severson sees is that the Devils are well rested while the Islanders were on the road Monday night.
"I think from seeing them so recently, we know what game they bring," he said. "They played last night, I guess we have to try and use that to our advantage because they're traveling and had to come from Montreal. They're playing well right now and have got some guys going, we just have to be able to shut those guys down."
