Panthers at Islanders preview

PANTHERS (38-28-7) at ISLANDERS (31-34-10)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-F, NHL.TV

Florida trails the New Jersey Devils by three points for the second wild card in the East and has played two fewer games.
The Islanders will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss of any kind, or if they win in a shootout.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games.
Islanders forward John Tavares has two goals and seven assists during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"We have a few games left and every game is important. We're just going to push until the end." -- Panthers forward Denis Malgin
"You just try to come in and take what you can and just continue to try to be professional and to work and to take pride in what we do. I know we all do, but you're also searching for that fun aspect to come back. Hockey's fun. It's a great sport and it's something we all love to do. If we can start winning games, it'll definitely make things better." -- Islanders forward Anders Lee

Panthers projected lineup

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

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

The Panthers did not hold a morning skate. … Islanders coach Doug Weight said Cizikas is having some lingering effects from an injury that's been bothering him and will also likely sit out Tuesday at the Ottawa Senators. Mayfield could return Tuesday.

Stat pack

Trocheck has six goals in his past eight games. He is the third Panthers player to score 30 goals since the 2008-09 season, joining Jonathan Marchessault (30 in 2016-17) and David Booth (30 in 2008-09). … The Islanders are 5-13-1 at home since Jan. 2. Lee has five goals and one assist in his past four games.