Islanders at Canadiens preview

ISLANDERS (29-27-7) at CANADIENS (23-29-10)
7 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Islanders trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are 0-2-1 in their past three games, 4-7-2 in their past 13 and have allowed four goals or more in six of their past 10.
The Canadiens have lost two straight games (0-0-2) and are 1-4-5 in their past nine. They are 13 points behind the Blue Jackets.

Players to watch

Islanders center Mathew Barzal has 13 points (goal, 12 assists) in his past eight games.
Canadiens goaltender Antti Niemi is 3-1-1 with a 2.50 goals-against-average and .925 save percentage in his past six starts.

They said it

"You look at the standings and how much time we have, and we're going in the wrong direction, so we've got to find a way to get back on course tonight. Obviously, we have these guys two games here and it's pretty simple, we've got to come out with four points." -- Islanders forward Jordan Eberle
"We have to finish the year the right way. We can't just throw away these last 20 games. We have 20 more games to learn how to play better together." -- Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin

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
Jaroslav Halak
Christopher Gibson
Scratched:Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston, Dennis Seidenberg
Injured:Nikolay Kulemin (shoulder), Shane Prince (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body), Thomas Greiss (lower body), Alan Quine (lower body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Jonathan Drouin -- Artturi Lehkonen
Alex Galchenyuk -- Phillip Danault -- Charles Hudon
Paul Byron -- Jacob de la Rose -- Brendan Gallagher
Nikita Scherbak -- Byron Froese -- Andrew Shaw
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner -- Noah Juulsen
Mike Reilly -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:David Schlemko, Nicolas Deslauriers, Logan Shaw, Daniel Carr
Injured:Carey Price (concussion), Andrew Shaw (lower body), Ales Hemsky (upper body), Shea Weber (foot)

Status report

Wagner and Davidson will debut for the Islanders after arriving via trades with the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers, respectively. … The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … Reilly practiced Tuesday and will likely debut for the Canadiens. He was traded to Montreal by the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

Stat pack

Tavares has two goals in seven games after getting 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past 14. … Gallagher has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past 11 games.