Islanders at Canucks preview

Islanders (29-29-8) at CANUCKS (24-32-9)
10 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG+, NHL.TV

Barzal and Boeser lead their respective teams in scoring and are 1-2 in the NHL rookie scoring race. Barzal leads the Islanders and all NHL rookies with 67 points (18 goals, 49 assists), and Boeser leads the Canucks with 55 points and is first among NHL rookies with 29 goals.
New York is 0-4-2 in its past six games and five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Vancouver has lost three straight and is 20 points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Barzal has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in his past 11 games.
Boeser has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"He's an unbelievable player, it's kind of cool the season he is having and it's kind of funny that it's in my hometown as well. They've got a superstar here for a while." -- Barzal, who is expecting close to 100 family and friends for his first game in Vancouver, on Boeser.
"I try not to focus on [the numbers] but when he is putting up big points every other game it's hard not to notice." -- Boeser on watching Barzal and the rookie scoring race.

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Tanner Fritz
Cal Clutterbuck -- Casey Cizikas -- Chris Wagner
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey -- Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech -- Brandon Davidson
Jaroslav Halak
Christopher Gibson
Scratched: Ross Johnston, Sebastian Aho, Dennis Seidenberg
Injured: Thomas Greiss (lower body), Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body), Scott Mayfield (lower body), Shane Prince (lower body), Alan Quine (lower body)

Canucks projected lineup

Brendan Leipsic -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Jussi Jokinen
Nikolay Goldobin -- Sam Gagner -- Jake Virtanen
Darren Archibald -- Brandon Sutter -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Erik Gudbranson
Michael Del Zotto -- Troy Stecher
Ben Hutton -- Derrick Pouliot
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched: Alex Biega, Nic Dowd
Injured:Sven Baertschi (shoulder), Loui Eriksson (fractured rib), Brendan Gaunce (foot), Markus Granlund (ankle), Chris Tanev (lower body)

Status report

Baertschi is expected miss the rest of the season after separating his shoulder against the Nashville Predators on Friday. Jokinen, 34, will play for the first time in three games since being acquired along with Motte from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Thomas Vanek.

Stat pack

Tavares has one assist in his past six games. … Daniel Sedin has nine points (six goals, three assists) in a five-game points streak, and has scored a goal in five straight games, matching a career high he has accomplished four times before.