Preview: Islanders at Hurricanes

ISLANDERS (16-16-8) at HURRICANES (20-15-7)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Islanders team scope

John Tavares had a hat trick in the New York Islanders' 5-2 win at the Florida Panthers on Friday. The second goal by the Islanders captain was his 500th NHL point. The Islanders had lost three straight games (0-1-2), all by scores of 2-1. Thomas Greiss made 27 saves and improved his record to 7-2-2 in his past 11 games. Greiss will start again Saturday. "We've had compete level all year long," coach Jack Capuano said Friday. "To get the five [goals] obviously is big for us. It was nice to see us get the goals here [Friday] that we haven't gotten the last three games." The Islanders will complete their seventh set of back-to-back games. They are 2-3-1 in the second games.

Hurricanes team scope

Jeff Skinner and Brock McGinn each scored two goals in the Carolina Hurricanes' 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, improving their home record to 13-1-1 in the past 15 games. Goaltender Cam Ward, who will make his 19th consecutive start, stopped 36 shots against the Sabres in his 600th NHL game. The line of Skinner, Victor Rask and Derek Ryan has 20 points in the past five games. The Hurricanes will complete their ninth set of back-to-back games. They are 5-3-0 in second games.

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Ryan Strome
Alan Quine -- Anthony Beauvillier -- Jason Chimera
Nikolay Kulemin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Adam Pelech
Thomas Hickey -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Thomas Greiss
J-F Berube
Scratched: Shane Prince, Stephen Gionta, Scott Mayfield
Injured: Travis Hamonic (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Victor Rask -- Derek Ryan
Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen -- Lee Stempniak
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Joakim Nordstrom -- Jay McClement -- Viktor Stalberg
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Ron Hainsey -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Matt Tennyson
Cam Ward
Michael Leighton
Scratched: Klas Dahlbeck, Ryan Murphy, Ty Rattie
Injured: Eddie Lack (concussion), Bryan Bickell (illness)

Status report

With the Islanders and Hurricanes playing Friday, neither team held a morning skate Saturday.

Who's hot

Leddy has two goals and four points in the past two games. Bailey had two assists in the win against Florida. … Skinner has three goals and three assists in the past two games. McGinn has three goals in the past two games.