Islanders at Panthers preview

ISLANDERS (15-8-2) at PANTHERS (10-13-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Islanders enter as the highest-scoring team in the NHL with 3.72 goals per game. Center John Tavares is third in the League with 16 goals. Forward Anders Lee (15) is fourth.
New York is coming off a 6-5 loss against the Ottawa Senators on Friday. That ended a four-game winning streak for the Islanders, who are 7-2-0 in their past nine games.
The Panthers have lost two straight games (0-1-1), including a 3-2 overtime loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The game will mark the first time Panthers associate coach Jack Capuano faces the Islanders. Capuano coached New York from Nov. 15, 2010 until he was fired Jan. 17, 2017.

Players to watch

Islanders forward Mathew Barzal leads NHL rookies with 18 assists and is second in points with 24, one behind Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser.
Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov has three goals in his past four games.

They said it

"The way he plays, it's predictable and he's good at it. Whether you're scoring at a high pace or you're having a little trouble, he seems to know what bag to eat out of. And he does it on a daily basis." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight on Anders Lee
"It's another game for me, but after the game I'm rooting for these guys. A lot of friends on the team, stay in contact with a lot of them and hopefully they can continue the dominance that they're doing in the [Metropolitan Division] right now and climb the ladder." -- Panthers associate coach Jack Capuano

Islanders projected lineup

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

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jamie McGinn -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Connor Brickley -- Jared McCann -- Radim Vrbata
Micheal Haley - Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Henrik Haapala, MacKenzie Weegar, Dryden Hunt](https://www.nhl.com/player/dryden-hunt-8478211?season=20172018)
Injured:Evgenii Dadonov (upper body)

Status report

Weight said he was hoping that Cizikas, who was placed on injured reserve Nov. 28, could accompany the Islanders during their four-game road trip. … Brickley will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past four games.

Stat pack

The Islanders have scored four or more goals in seven of their past nine games. … Bjugstad's goal Saturday was his sixth in 26 games, one shy of his total for the 2016-17 season, when he had seven in 54 games.