Islanders at Kings preview

ISLANDERS (16-4-2) at KINGS (9-13-2)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-W, MSG+, NHL.TV

A 3-0 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Monday ended the Islanders' 17-game point streak (15-0-2), their longest since joining the NHL in 1972. It was New York's first defeat in regulation since a 5-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 11.
The Kings will play their first game without defenseman Alec Martinez, who had surgery to repair a radial artery and two superficial radial nerves in his right wrist after he was cut by the skate blade of San Jose Sharks forward Melker Karlsson during a 4-3 overtime loss Monday. He will be evaluated weekly and is expected to make a full recovery.
Los Angeles is 1-2-1 in its past four games following a three-game winning streak.

Players to watch

Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, who will start, is 7-0-2 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and one shutout in his past nine starts.
Kings center Anze Kopitar has scored a goal in three straight games and has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.

They said it

"That wasn't a good showing at all [against Anaheim], and we have to hit the reset button and come back and fix this trip a little bit." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee
"I think you can feel it as you're gaining it. I think you all get on board. There's an excitement, there's an energy that kind of arrives on the bench and everybody wants to keep it going. I don't know if the same signal hits everybody at the same time if you're losing it." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan on momentum

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Derick Brassard
Michael Dal Colle -- Leo Komarov -- Jordan Eberle
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Noah Dobson -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov
Thomas Greiss
Scratched: Otto Koivula, Ross Johnston
Injured: Nick Leddy (undisclosed), Tom Kuhnhackl (upper body)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Trevor Lewis -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Kyle Clifford -- Michael Amadio -- Matt Luff
Sean Walker -- Drew Doughty
Ben Hutton -- Kurtis MacDermid
Joakim Ryan -- Matt Roy
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Ilya Kovalchuk, Nikolai Prokhorkin
Injured: Alec Martinez (wrist), Derek Forbort (back)

Status report

Leddy will be a game-time decision after not practicing the past two days. The defenseman aggravated a previous injury against the Ducks, coach Barry Trotz said. … Lewis could return after missing eight games because of a lower-body injury. … Martinez was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. … Forbort will begin a conditioning assignment in the AHL this week.

Stat pack

New York has outscored opponents 57-42 in their past 18 games. … Nelson (four goals, five assists) and Brassard (one goal, eight assists) each has nine points in his past seven games. … Carter has 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 49 games against the Islanders.