Islanders at Panthers preview

ISLANDERS (46-27-7) at PANTHERS (36-32-12)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Islanders, who are 4-2-0 in their past six games, need to earn one more point on Thursday than the Pittsburgh Penguins, who host the Detroit Red Wings, to finish at least second in the division and have home-ice advantage for the Eastern Conference First Round.
The Panthers, who have been eliminated from playoff contention, have won three straight after going 1-5-0 in their previous six games.

Players to watch

Islanders forward Jordan Eberle has four goals in a three-game goal streak and is one away from scoring at least 20 for the sixth straigth season.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov needs one point to break Pavel Bure's single-season Florida record of 94 points, set in 1999-2000. Barkov has a career-high 34 goals and 60 assists in 80 games this season.

They said it

"Whatever happens this weekend, we want to try and find a way to get four points, but no matter what, we're going to be resetting and getting ready for whoever our [playoff] opponent is next week." -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey
"There's six periods to play and I expect nothing less that we want to make sure that we're winning some battles and showing some intensity, playing with passion and hopefully winning two home games." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Josh Bailey -- Brock Nelson -- Michael Dal Colle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Leo Komarov -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Thomas Hickey
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Ross Johnston, Johnny Boychuk, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg
Injured:Tanner Fritz (hand), Valtteri Filppula (upper body), Andrew Ladd (knee)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jayce Hawryluk
Frank Vatrano -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Colton Sceviour
Dryden Hunt -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- MacKenzie Weegar
Mark Pysyk -- Josh Brown
Sam Montembeault
Roberto Luongo
Scratched: Jamie McGinn, Denis Malgin, Ian McCoshen, Brady Keeper, James Reimer
Injured: Derek MacKenzie (shoulder)

Status report

Hickey is expected back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past six games. … Montembeault will make his 10th NHL start after Luongo started the past three games.

Stat pack

The Islanders need one shutout to set a single-season high of 11; they also had 10 in 1975-76. … Barkov (41 points; 15 goals, 26 assists) and Huberdeau (37 points; 15 goals, 22 assists) are first and second in the NHL in points and tied for first in goals since Feb. 17. … Hoffman is one point shy of 300 in the NHL.