Panthers at Islanders preview

PANTHERS (19-22-6) at ISLANDERS (25-20-5)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-F, NHL.TV

The Islanders, 5-2-1 in their past eight games after a five-game losing streak, will be bolstered by the return of forward Casey Cizikas, who missed six games with an upper-body injury.
Panthers associate coach Jack Capuano returns to Barclays Center for the first time since he was fired as Islanders coach on Jan. 17, 2017. Capuano guided New York to a 227-192-64 record in seven seasons; the Islanders' lone Stanley Cup Playoff series win since 1993 came against the Florida with Capuano as coach in 2016.
The Panthers look to avoid their fourth straight loss; they're 2-6-1 in their past nine games.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games.
Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier has five points (four goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak.

They said it

"We have to limit their time and space. They're a good team, especially here at the Barclays Center. We have to make sure that we're clogging things up a little bit. We want to worry about our own game, but you have to respect the talent they have." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"He's a great person, a really good guy. I enjoyed playing for him. I was glad to see when he got hired there in the summer, along with [my] other old coach in Windsor [of the Ontario Hockey League], Bob Boughner. Two really good people. -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey on Panthers associate coach Jack Capuano

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Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Jamie McGinn -- Jared McCann -- Radim Vrbata
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
Harri Sateri
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Connor Brickley, Ian McCoshen
Injured: Roberto Luongo (lower body), James Reimer (groin)

Islanders projected lineup

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

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Status report

Boughner said Luongo, who hasn't played since Dec. 4, is improving and inching closer to being able to practice "in the next week or so." … Kulemin, Ladd and Boychuk skated Tuesday but are not ready to return.

Stat pack

Yandle has the longest-active streak in the NHL with 680 consecutive games played. … Barzal has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past eight games. … The Islanders are 2-4-0 in their past six home games against the Panthers.