Devils at Islanders preview

DEVILS (22-11-7) at ISLANDERS (20-18-4)
1 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG, NHL.TV

The Islanders have lost five straight games (0-5-0) by a combined score of 25-8, and will be without top-six forwards Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd, who sustained lower-body injuries in a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. Bailey is tied with captain John Tavares for the team lead with 50 points.
New Jersey has lost four games in a row (0-2-2), including 4-3 at the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Each team will play its final game before taking a League-mandated, five-day break.

Players to watch

Devils goalie Cory Schneider has allowed four goals in each of his past three starts (.875 save percentage).
Islanders rookie center Mathew Barzal has one assist during their losing streak.

They said it

"It's not going to change with one shift. It's [being] good shift after shift, good habits, things we're preaching. We have to stay positive and stick together. Forty games left, so lots of hockey and we've obviously seen some really good hockey from us this season so obviously the capability is there." -- Islanders captain John Tavares
"Our game is not far off at all. To me, it's just more of a mental focus, making sure we're ready to play our best game [Sunday]. There's lots of good things going on in our game. We feel good about our game. We don't necessarily feel good about the results, but sometimes you've got to look through the results." -- Devils coach John Hynes

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt
Marcus Johansson -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- Brian Gibbons
Blake Coleman -- Brian Boyle
Andy Greene -- Steven Santini
John Moore -- Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher -- Ben Lovejoy
Damon Severson
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Jimmy Hayes, Drew Stafford, Stefan Noesen
Injured: Mirco Mueller (clavicle)

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

The Devils are going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen because coach John Hynes said he wants to get some forwards more ice time considering they had Saturday off and go on their five-day break after the game. Zajac practiced Saturday and will play Sunday. He left the game in Dallas in the third period and didn't return after being struck in the head by Palmieri's shot. ... Beauvillier was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Saturday. Pulock will skate in the warmup and be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Greiss and Halak have combined for an .876 save percentage during the losing streak. … The Devils also lost four in a row (0-2-2) from Nov. 3-9.