Islanders at Flames preview

ISLANDERS (29-29-10) at FLAMES (34-25-10)
7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Flames, winners of two straight games following a four-game losing streak (0-3-1), trail the Colorado Avalanche by two points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Calgary is also two points behind the third-place Anaheim Ducks and three behind the second-place San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division.
The Islanders, who are nine points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the East, will try to end a season-long eight-game losing streak. New York is 0-4-4 since a 3-0 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 17.

Players to watch

Islanders forward Mathew Barzal has 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) in his past 13 games. He is the third-highest scoring rookie in Islanders history behind Bryan Trottier (95 points; 1975-76) and Mike Bossy (91 points; 1977-78).
Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has four assists in a three-game point streak and 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in his past 19 games.

They said it

"Right now we just have to get a win and produce a win. That's our game plan. It's not an easy one, but we've been in the last [few] games and we felt like we're right there." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight
"We just don't have the luxury of not competing. We know that. We've been good at that all year, but there's certainly a definite hum of intensity around our room that's evident day in and day out now." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan

Islanders projected lineup

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

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Garnet Hathaway
Troy Brouwer -- Matt Stajan -- Curtis Lazar
Dougie Hamilton -- Mark Giordano
TJ Brodie -- Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak -- Michael Stone
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: Chris Stewart, Nicholas Shore, Matt Bartkowski
Injured: Marek Hrivik (upper body), Kris Versteeg (lower body)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate Sunday. ... The Flames assigned goalie Jon Gillies to Stockton of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Tavares has three points (goal, two assists) in his past three games. …Backlund has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past seven games.