Islanders at Oilers preview

ISLANDERS (29-29-9) AT OILERS (28-34-4)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, MSG+2, NHL.TV

New York, 0-4-3 since a 3-0 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 17, is six points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Islanders forward Jordan Eberle will play in Edmonton for the first time since being traded to New York for forward Ryan Strome on June 22, 2017
Edmonton ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. The Oilers are 17 behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Eberle has three goals in his past five games. He has 23 goals this season, three more than he had with the Oilers in 2016-17.
Oilers center Connor McDavid has a five-game point streak (three goals, six assists) and has 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in his past 18 games.

They said it

"I enjoyed my time here and for me, coming in as a young guy, they gave me an opportunity to gain some confidence and gave me opportunity as a young player, and that's not easy to come by." -- Islanders forward Jordan Eberle on his seven seasons with the Oilers
"He reads the game really well, he's got this natural skill and speed, but he understands the game well and he's a guy that also wants the puck on his stick." -- Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Islanders rookie Mathew Barzal

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Tanner Fritz
Chris Wagner -- 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, Ross Johnston
Injured:Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Shane Prince (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body), Thomas Greiss (lower body)

Oilers projected lineup

Milan Lucic -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl
Michael Cammalleri -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Pontus Aberg
Jesse Puljujarvi -- Ryan Strome -- Anton Slepyshev
Iiro Pakarinen -- Jujhar Khaira -- Drake Caggiula
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera --
Ethan Bear
Cam Talbot
Al Montoya
Scratched:Yohann Auvitu, Zack Kassian, Matt Benning
Injured:None

Status report

Gibson will make his second start of the season; he made 47 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. … Larsson returns after missing three games for personal reasons. Talbot will start for the 12th time in 13 games.

Stat pack

Barzal has 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) in his past 12 games. Draisaitl has 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in his past 23 games.