Islanders at Devils preview

ISLANDERS (26-12-3) at DEVILS (15-20-6)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+, NHL.TV

Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves for the Islanders in a 1-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. New York is 3-4-1 in its past eight games after going 5-2-0 in its previous seven
Devils center Jack Hughes will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury sustained during a 3-2 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Dec. 31.
New Jersey is 5-3-1 in nine games since trading Taylor Hall, who could become an unrestricted free agent July 1, to the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 16.

Players to watch

Islanders center Brock Nelson has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games against the Devils.
Devils center Nico Hischier has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"I have a 1A and a 1B (goalie) and I never know which they are. [Varlamov] had a number of games where I've given him some traction here. [Greiss] is proud and wants a piece of the net, there's no question. He's extremely competitive. I know he's going to be ready to go." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"We didn't know how [Hughes] was going to react to an injury like this. It might have taken 5-to-6 days, it might take 10 days, but it's nothing where there's a concern he's going to be missing 2-4 weeks. He's still day to day. A little longer than we would have liked, but he's making big progress." -- Devils coach Alain Nasreddine

Islanders projected lineup

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

Devils projected lineup

Wayne Simmonds -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev
Jesper Boqvist -- Pavel Zacha -- Miles Wood
Kevin Rooney --
Ben Street
-- John Hayden
Andy Greene -- P.K. Subban
Damon Severson -- Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher -- Mirco Mueller
Mackenzie Blackwood
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Connor Carrick
Injured: Jack Hughes (upper body), Jesper Bratt (lower body)

Status report

The Devils assigned defenseman Matt Tennyson to Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Monday. ... Bratt will miss his second straight game and remains day to day.

Stat pack

The Islanders are 11-5-0 in their past 16 games against the Devils. ... Palmieri has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past 10 games. … Gusev has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games. … Vatanen has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past nine games.