Islanders at Capitals preview

ISLANDERS (47-27-7) at CAPITALS (48-25-8)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Islanders, 5-2-0 in their past seven games, can clinch second place and home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs if they get at least one point against Washington or if the Pittsburgh Penguins lose to the New York Rangers in any fashion.
The Capitals, 5-1-0 in their past six games, clinched their fourth straight Metropolitan Division championship and home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs with a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Players to watch

Islanders goalie Robin Lehner is 20-7-2 with a 1.97 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and four shutouts in his past 31 games (28 starts).
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in his past 24 games.

They said it

"To be able to play for something [in Game 82] is, I think, good for us. It will help us leading into the playoffs. It's a good opportunity for us. Obviously, they're a good team and we want home-ice advantage, so we need to be ready to go tonight." -- Islanders forward Matt Martin
"Last year I thought he felt really good about playing in that last game and that gave him a competitive advantage going into the series against Columbus. He felt like that was something that sets him up best for success." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden on playing forward Alex Ovechkin against the Islanders

Islanders projected lineup

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

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Jakub Vrana -- Travis Boyd -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Andre Burakovsky -- Nic Dowd -- Chandler Stephenson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Nick Jensen
Brooks Orpik -- Christian Djoos
Pheonix Copley
Braden Holtby
Scratched:Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson, Nathan Walker
Injured:Michal Kempny (lower body)

Status report

Lehner was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate. Filppula (upper body) returns after missing eight games. … Reirden will rest Backstrom, Oshie and Carlson. Walker was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Friday.

Stat pack

The Islanders have 10 shutouts, tying their single-season record; they also had 10 in 1975-76. … Ovechkin's next power-play goal will move him past Luc Robitaille (247) into sole possession of fourth place on the NHL all-time list.