Oilers at Islanders preview

OILERS (24-28-5) at ISLANDERS (34-17-6)
7 p.m. ET; SNW, SNP, MSG+, NHL.TV

New York, which has won four of its past five games and can match last season's victory total (35) by defeating the Oilers, will play its final 12 home games this season at Nassau Coliseum, beginning Feb. 26. The Islanders are first in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the Washington Capitals.
Edmonton has lost three straight, including a 3-1 defeat at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, and is seven points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Oilers, 1-7-2 in their past 10 games, traded goalie Cam Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday for goalie Anthony Stolarz.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 12 points (10 goals, two assists) in his past nine games.
Islanders center Casey Cizikas has three goals and one assist in his past four games.

They said it

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to keep building on this stuff. It's going to be a tough game [Saturday]. What can I say? We're not going to give much more than we gave [on Friday]. -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock
"You have to be careful. I think they've got some really talented players. There's no easy games; every game's tough and they just get tougher down the stretch. Tonight will be no different." -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Milan Lucic --
Brad Malone
-- Alex Chiasson
Tobias Rieder -- Colby Cave -- Ty Rattie
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Alexander Petrovic -- Kevin Gravel
Mikko Koskinen
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched:Brandon Manning, Kyle Brodziak
Injured: Matt Benning (upper body)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Tom Kuhnhackl -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Valtteri Filppula -- Leo Komarov
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Ross Johnston, Michael Dal Colle, Luca Sbisa
Injured:Thomas Hickey (upper body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)

Status report

The Oilers traded forward Ryan Spooner to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday for forward
Sam Gagner
. … If Brodziak plays, it would be his 900th NHL game. … Ladd and Hickey were moved to long-term injured reserve on Saturday and loaned to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League for conditioning, where they will play at minimum on Saturday and Sunday.

Stat pack

The Oilers went 2-0-0 against the Islanders last season, winning 2-1 in overtime at Barclays Center and 2-1 in a shootout at Rogers Place. … Koskinen, who played four games with the Islanders during the 2010-11 season and was their second-round pick (No. 31) at the 2009 NHL Draft, is 0-5-1 in his past six decisions. … New York is 28-2-1 when it scores at least three goals.