Islanders at Lightning preview

ISLANDERS (8-4-2) at LIGHTNING (11-3-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Lightning, who lead the Atlantic Division, have won three consecutive games and are 7-2-0 in their past nine. They lead the Eastern Conference with 23 points and have scored at least four goals in four of their past five games.
The Islanders, who lead the Metropolitan Division with 18 points, are 5-0-2 in their past seven games. They have allowed two goals or fewer in four of the past six games.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will start for the Lightning, who will be without defenseman Victor Hedman (upper body) and forward Ondrej Palat (lower body) who has each missed the past six games.

Players to watch

Islanders forward Anders Lee has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.
Lightning center Steven Stamkos has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"We knew how poorly we played [Monday in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens] and we were made aware of that throughout the game. It's just about regrouping and getting back to our structure and taking care of the hockey puck. That's the biggest thing." -- Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey
"I think a lot of people may have lowered their expectations because they lost such a key player with John Tavares. But it seems like they've rallied around that and they've done a good job trying to prove they don't need him to succeed." -- Lightning forward Alex Killorn

Islanders projected lineup

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

Lightning projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Yanni Gourde -- Brayden Point -- Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Mathieu Joseph
Adam Erne -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Ryan McDonagh -- Anton Stralman
Slater Koekkoek -- Dan Girardi
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched:Danick Martel, Cameron Gaunce
Injured:Victor Hedman (upper body), Ondrej Palat (lower body)

Status report

Lehner will start for the first time since October 30. ... Martin did not make the trip and likely will miss the next two games. ... Hedman, who practiced Wednesday and took part in the morning skate Thursday, said he was "trending in the right direction."... Palat will miss the next four weeks.

Stat pack

Gourde has a three-game goal streak. ... Kucherov has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the past five games. ... Bailey has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past nine games. ... Barzal needs three points for 100 in the NHL.