Kings at Islanders preview

KINGS (20-26-4) at ISLANDERS (29-15-6)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, KCOP-13, NHL.TV

New York has lost its past two games in a shootout following a five-game winning streak (5-0-2). The Islanders have allowed one goal or fewer in six of their past seven games and are 15-3-2 in their past 20. They are 5-1-2 at the Coliseum this season, including a 1-0 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. New York is 7-0-0 in the second half of a back-to-back set.
Los Angeles, which is opening a six-game road trip, is returning from its mandatory five-day break following the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star break. The Kings could be without center Anze Kopitar, who missed the morning skate because of an illness and will be a gametime decision. It will be their first game since trading defenseman Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Players to watch

Kings center Jeff Carter has two goals and four assists in his past five games.
Islanders goalie Robin Lehner was named the NHLs Second Star for the month of January, when he went 6-1-1 with a 1.73 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage and one shutout. Lehner leads the NHL in GAA (2.02) and save percentage (.931).

They said it

"We're excited for this road trip. It's no secret how tough this season has been for us. To get on the road and have a few nights at dinner with the boys, to have that bonding experience off the ice helps your team so much, especially for this push we need right now. We need to go on an absolute roll, so I think the off-ice bonding is huge for us. But at the same time, we have some big games against some very good teams. We have to win them all." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty
"These points are huge, especially only getting one [Friday]. We want to continually put ourselves in a good position of separating us from the teams behind us. Tonight's a good test for us, especially the emotion after last game and the way it ended. We want to be able to get the two points and say that we played hard, we played our way and we got the job done." -- Islanders center Casey Cizikas

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Brendan Leipsic -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Adrian Kempe -- Carl Hagelin
Kyle Clifford -- Michael Amadio -- Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Oscar Fantenberg -- Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf -- Paul LaDue
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Sean Walker, Matt Luff
Injured: Nate Thompson (flu), Trevor Lewis (foot), Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle -- 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, Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa
Injured:Thomas Hickey (upper body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)

Status report

If Kopitar can't play, Kings coach Willie Desjardins said Iafallo would likely move to center. … Greiss, who made 41 saves on Friday, was the lone goalie on the ice for the Islanders in an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Doughty has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists). … The Kings are playing their first game at Nassau Coliseum since March 26, 2015; they lost three straight at Barclays Center (0-2-1). … The Islanders have not allowed a goal in the first period in the past 178:22.