Islanders at Lightning preview

ISLANDERS (16-8-2) at LIGHTNING (18-6-2)
7:30 p.m. ET, SUN, MSG+2, NHL.TV

The Islanders play the second of a back-to-back set after a 5-4 shootout win against the Florida Panthers to begin a four-game road trip. They defeated the Lightning 5-3 in Tampa on Nov. 18.
The Lightning have 38 points, tied with the Winnipeg Jets for most in the NHL and are 10-2-1 at home. Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the League with 38 points (19 goals, 19 assists). Center Steven Stamkos is second with 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists).

Players to watch

Islanders forward Anders Lee scored two goals against the Lightning in their first game and has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past nine games.
Lightning right wing Tyler Johnson was moved to the top line with Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov before the game against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. He responded with two goals in a 5-2 win that ended a 15-game goal drought.

They said it

"You can always say the next game is the most important but it's big to start the trip off. It's a good win. Two desperate teams going at it. We'll take it and we've got a big one [Tuesday]." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight on the win against the Panthers.
"The last time we turned too many pucks over and they have some very skilled forwards that can put the puck in the net. We went back to simplifying our game against San Jose and we'll build off that." -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Brock Nelson -- Alan Quine -- Joshua Ho-Sang
Jason Chimera -- Anthony Beauvillier -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Adam Pelech
Thomas Hickey -- Ryan Pulock
Thomas Greiss
Jaroslav Halak

Scratched:Dennis Seidenberg, Scott Mayfield
Injured:Nikolay Kulemin (shoulder surgery), Casey Cizikas (lower body), Shane Prince (ankle)

Lightning projected lineup

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Steven Stamkos -- Tyler Johnson
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Yanni Gourde --
Cory Conacher
Chris Kunitz -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Andrej Sustr
Mikhail Sergachev -- Anton Stralman
Slater Koekkoek -- Dan Girardi
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Peter Budaj
Scratched:JT Brown, Jamie McBain
Injured:Jake Dotchin (undisclosed), Braydon Coburn (lower body)

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Status report

Dotchin participated in the optional morning skate wearing a no-contact jersey. ... Paquette returns after a one-game suspension for boarding Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug on Nov. 29. … McBain was called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Monday. ... The Islanders did not hold a morning skate.

Stat pack

Vasilevskiy leads the NHL with 17 wins and a .932 save percentage. ... The Islanders lead the League with 3.73 goals per game.