Preview: Red Wings at Islanders

RED WINGS (11-11-3) at ISLANDERS (9-10-4)
6 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-D, NHL.TV

Red Wings team scope

Center Frans Nielsen, who spent the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the New York Islanders, returns to Brooklyn for the first time since signing a six-year, $31.5 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings on July 1. "I'm sure there will be some butterflies," Nielsen told Newsday. "It'll probably be like that first game of the season or the first game of the playoffs. After a couple of shifts, it should be OK. I still have a lot of friends over there and I want to see them do well. Hopefully we'll both be where we want to be by the end of the season." Nielsen has six goals and 14 points in 25 games this season; he had 119 goals and 349 points in 606 games with the Islanders. The Red Wings are 3-1-2 in the past six games, including a 5-3 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Rookie goaltender Jared Coreau made 32 saves in his NHL debut and Petr Mrazek will make his 14th start on Sunday. Coreau was recalled from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League when Jimmy Howard injured his groin in the first period against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 25. Mrazek is 6-5-3 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .907 save percentage, and 2-0-2 in his past four starts. The Red Wings did not hold a morning skate.

Islanders team scope

Goalie Jaroslav Halak will start for the Islanders,who have won three straight for the first time this season, defeating the Calgary Flames, Penguins and Washington Capitals by a combined 10-4. "I'm glad they're getting the results, it's a good feeling," coach Jack Capuano told the Islanders website. "I tell the guys, how are we going to sustain it." The top line of John Tavares, Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey combined for a goal and three points in a 3-0 win against the Capitals on Thursday. The penalty kill is 13-for-13 in the past five games, including a 6-for-6 effort Thursday. The power play, however, is 0-for-10 in the past three games and ranks 29th in the League at 11.8 percent (8-for-68). "The effort has been there," Capuano said. "Obviously, it's results that matter. It's good to see the effort rewarded because we weren't seeing that for a while." The Islanders, who did not hold a morning skate, are 5-4-0 in their past nine games against the Red Wings.

Red Wings projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Anthony Mantha
Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Thomas Vanek
Tomas Jurco -- Frans Nielsen -- Luke Glendening
Drew Miller -- Riley Sheahan -- Steve Ott
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jonathan Ericsson -- Ryan Sproul
Petr Mrazek
Jared Coreau
Scratched:Tomas Nosek, Brian Lashoff
Injured:Justin Abdelkader (knee), Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Darren Helm (shoulder), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (groin), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Brendan Smith (knee)

Islanders projected lineup

Josh Bailey -- John Tavares -- Brock Nelson
Andrew Ladd -- Ryan Strome -- Shane Prince
Nikolay Kulemin -- Alan Quine -- Jason Chimera
Anders Lee -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:J-F Berube, Anthony Beauvillier
Injured:Adam Pelech (upper body)

Status report

The Red Wings placed Abdelkader on injured reserve and Athanasiou on long-term injured reserve Saturday. Abdelkader, injured in the first period of a 2-1 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday, is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. ... Seidenberg returned to the Islanders lineup Thursday wearing a protective face guard after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Scott Mayfield was assigned to Bridgeport of the AHL on Friday.

Who's hot

Zetterberg has two goals and five points in his past five games. ... Cizikas has a goal and three points in his past two games.