"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," Holtby said. "It's kind of what got us here is just enjoying the game, enjoying the challenge, trying to win, see what the game puts in front of you as an obstacle and try to overcome it."
"My goal was to get 40 wins again," Holtby said. "That's kind of the goal every year is to hit that 40 mark, and you're in the playoffs, usually. But it's tough, it's tough to stay healthy and things have to go right. It's a stat that's kind of cool, but we're just trying to win games."
The Islanders can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win. They also would be in with a point and a Boston Bruins loss in any fashion, or a Boston regulation loss.
The Capitals lost 3-0 to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday but have not lost consecutive games in regulation all season.
"It's a tough feat," defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "It's something that I think just comes down to the mindset and you just take each game as starting over again. You can't try and carry anything over, especially when you lose a game."
Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom will miss his third straight game with an upper body injury. He was on ice for the optional morning skate but coach Barry Trotz said he would not play against the Islanders.
The Islanders did not have a morning skate but rookie goaltender Christopher Gibson will start.
Here are the projected lineups:
ISLANDERS
Josh Bailey - John Tavares - Ryan Strome
Nikolay Kulemin - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee - Brock Nelson - Shane Prince
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk
Scott Mayfield - Ryan Pulock
Thomas Hickey - Marek Zidlicky
Christopher Gibson
Thomas Greiss
Injured: Jaroslav Halak (lower body), Mikhail Grabovski (upper body), Travis Hamonic (lower body), Adam Pelech (upper body), J-F Berube (lower body), Calvin de Haan (lower body)
Scratched: Eric Boulton, Steve Bernier, Brian Strait
CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin -Marcus Johansson - Justin Williams
Andre Burakovsky - Evgeny Kuznetsov - T.J. Oshie
Jason Chimera - Jay Beagle - Tom Wilson
Daniel Winnik - Mike Richards - Michael Latta
Karl Alzner - Matt Niskanen
Nate Schmidt - John Carlson
Brooks Orpik - Dmitry Orlov
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (upper body)
Scratched: Taylor Chorney, Mike Weber, Stanislav Galiev
Status report:The Islanders recalled Mayfield from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis to replace de Haan.
Who's hot:Tavares leads the Islanders in points with 64 … Kuznetsov leads the Capitals in points with 75.
