Islanders at Rangers preview

ISLANDERS (10-7-2) at RANGERS (11-8-2)
7 p.m. ET; MSG2, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Islanders have won eight straight games against the Rangers since Dec. 6, 2016, including 7-5 at Barclays Center last Thursday. They've won 12 of their past 13 games against the Rangers (12-1-0) since Dec. 2, 2015.
The Rangers have won six in a row at home and are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.
Alexandar Georgiev will start in goal for the Rangers opposite Robin Lehner for the Islanders. It'll be the first start in the New York rivalry series for each goalie.

Players to watch

Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier had a hat trick and an assist in the win against the Rangers last week. He also scored in a 6-2 loss against the Dallas Stars on Sunday.
Rangers forward Filip Chytil has goals in four straight games. The 19-year-old is the first teenager in Rangers history to score in four straight games.

They said it

"They're getting scoring from everywhere, much like our team. I think coming into the year you look at where the experts had us and them and some other teams ranked, they probably are a bit surprised, right? That's just attributed to getting scoring from the depth and playing well as a team." -- Islanders forward Jordan Eberle
"It's a four-point game because it's a division game. We've got to keep building and keep going in the direction we've been going." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Islanders projected lineup

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

Rangers projected lineup

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Chris Kreider -- Kevin Hayes -- Filip Chytil
Jimmy Vesey -- Brett Howden -- Ryan Strome
Cody McLeod -- Lias Andersson -- Steven Fogarty
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Brendan Smith -- Tony DeAngelo
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched: Fredrik Claesson
Injured:Adam McQuaid (lower body), Pavel Buchnevich (broken thumb), Mats Zuccarello (groin)

Status report

Skjei will likely return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games. It's not clear who he will replace. … Pelech will be back in after being scratched against Dallas. He'll replace Luca Sbisa, who was a minus-2 in 15:55 against the Stars.

Stat pack

The Islanders are 7-0-0 against the Metropolitan Division. ... Kreider has nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past seven games. … Gionta will be appearing in his 300th NHL game.