Preview: Devils at Islanders
New York six points out of playoff spot; forward Michael Cammalleri returns to New Jersey lineup
by Brian Compton @BComptonNHL / NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
DEVILS (31-34-12) at ISLANDERS (35-29-12)
7:30 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV
Devils team scope
The New Jersey Devils, who have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, look to end a four-game losing streak (0-2-2) when they play the first of back-to-back road games. The Devils are at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Forward Michael Cammalleri is expected to return after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. Cammalleri, 34, has 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 55 games. "He's been working pretty hard so, fitness wise, he should be OK," coach John Hynes told northjersey.com on Thursday. "If he's good to go, we plan on playing him for the weekend."
Islanders team scope
The New York Islanders are six points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with six games remaining. The Islanders have one game in hand. They have lost three straight, including a 6-3 defeat at Philadelphia on Thursday. The Islanders trailed 5-0 after the first period. "We've got six games left," center John Tavares said, "so we want to play the way we played in the last 40 minutes [Thursday] and give ourselves the chance to play some good hockey games. Obviously our situation it is what it is. All we can do is control the way we approach the game and how hard we work and how hard we play."
Devils projected lineup
Taylor Hall -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Michael Cammalleri -- Adam Henrique -- Joseph Blandisi
John Quenneville -- Pavel Zacha -- Beau Bennett
Miles Wood -- Blake Coleman -- Stefan Noesen
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Michael Kapla -- Ben Lovejoy
John Moore -- Steven Santini
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Dalton Prout
Injured: Jacob Josefson (upper body), Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body)
Islanders projected lineup
Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Jason Chimera
Shane Prince -- Anthony Beauvillier -- Joshua Ho-Sang
Stephen Gionta -- Alan Quine -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Thomas Hickey -- Adam Pelech
Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Scratched: Jean-Francois Berube, Scott Mayfield
Injured: Travis Hamonic (upper body), Ryan Strome (upper body), Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Casey Cizikas (upper body)
Status report
Neither team held a morning skate Friday. … To make room for Cammalleri, the Devils sent forward Blake Pietila to Albany of the American Hockey League on Thursday. … Kapla, who signed as a free agent from UMass-Lowell on Tuesday, is expected to make his NHL debut. … Hamonic is not expected to play after leaving the game Thursday.
Who's hot
Hall has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past 10 games. … Palmieri has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past nine games. … Tavares has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games.