Red Wings at Islanders preview

RED WINGS (15-43-4) at ISLANDERS (33-20-6)
8 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-D, NHL.TV

New York, which is tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, returns home after being shut out twice and outscored 11-2 during its four-game road trip.
Detroit is 3-13-1 in its past 17 games. The Red Wings lost 8-2 in their previous trip to Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 14.

Players to watch

Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou has three goals in his past four games.
Islanders forward Jordan Eberle has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"I think they always play us hard; they're a really hard-working team. Obviously going into their building, I think we just match their intensity for maybe the first period and then kind of play into our game in the second and third. Just stick with it for a full 60 [minutes]. I think a lot of good things can happen if we do that." -- Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou
"We've talked about bounces forever. There's going to be stretches when they're not coming at all, and it feels that way. When they start coming, things start to feel good, you start to win hockey games, the mood changes, everything starts to roll. Maybe tonight we put a pretty play in, or maybe tonight one goes off the skate or something like that and it just gets us going. It's kind of all we need." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Red Wings projected lineup

Robby Fabbri -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Valtteri Filppula -- Andreas Athanasiou
Darren Helm -- Frans Nielsen -- Luke Glendening
Adam Erne -- Christoffer Ehn -- Brendan Perlini
Patrik Nemeth -- Alex Biega
Madison Bowey -- Mike Green
Trevor Daley -- Gustav Lindstrom
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Justin Abdelkader, Jonathan Ericsson, Brian Lashoff, Cody Goloubef
Injured: Filip Zadina (lower body), Filip Hronek (upper body), Danny DeKeyser (back)

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

The Red Wings held an optional morning skate. Hronek, a defenseman, was placed on injured reserve Thursday retroactive to Feb. 16, and Lashoff, a defenseman, was recalled from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. Goloubef, a defenseman, was claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Zadina hasn't played since Feb. 1 and the forward is expected to be out another 2-3 weeks. … The Islanders placed Clutterbuck on long-term injured reserve and assigned the forward to Bridgeport of the AHL on a conditioning stint and recalled Ladd and Koivula. Forward Kieffer Bellows was returned to Bridgeport. … Islanders coach Barry Trotz said Brassard, who was injured during a 3-1 loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, is day to day. The center did not participate in the morning skate.

Stat pack

Larkin has gone seven games without a goal. … The Islanders are 2-5-1 in their past eight games at Nassau Coliseum.