Preview: Rangers at Islanders

RANGERS (17-8-1) at ISLANDERS (9-10-5)
7 p.m. ET; SN1, SNO, MSG+, MSG 2, NHL.TV

Rangers team scope

The New York Rangers will be without their leading goal scorer Tuesday; forward Michael Grabner, who has 13 goals, traveled to Austria on Monday for his grandmother's funeral. He will be replaced by forward Marek Hrivik, who was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League. With Hrivik being inserted into the lineup, coach Alain Vigneault said Monday that either Josh Jooris or Oscar Lindberg will be a healthy scratch. "From guys that have seen him from our staff, he's been playing well," Vigneault told the Rangers website when asked about Hrivik. "From this end, I'm not quite satisfied right now with some of the different personnel as far as fourth-line steady personnel."

Islanders team scope

The New York Islanders are 3-0-1 in their past four games with hopes of climbing out of last place in the Eastern Conference. They enter Tuesday one point behind the Buffalo Sabres for 15th place and eight behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with three games in hand. But the Islanders, who were 1-4-2 in their previous seven games prior to this turnaround, remain adamant they're not reading the standings; the main focus is to keep finding ways to accumulate points. "Even if you're at the top, middle, bottom … I think that's most people's mindset," forward Josh Bailey said. "It's definitely the way we approach things too."

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Derek Stepan -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- Kevin Hayes -- Rick Nash
J.T. Miller -- Brandon Pirri -- Jesper Fast
Matt Puempel -- Oscar Lindberg -- Marek Hrivik
Ryan McDonagh -- Dan Girardi
Marc Staal -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta
Scratched:Michael Grabner (bereavement), Josh Jooris, Adam Clendening
Injured:Pavel Buchnevich (lower body), Mika Zibanejad (lower body)

Islanders projected lineup

Brock Nelson -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Ryan Strome -- Shane Prince
Anders Lee -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nikolay Kulemin -- Alan Quine -- Jason Chimera
Nick Leddy -- Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:J-F Berube, Anthony Beauvillier, Scott Mayfield
Injured:Adam Pelech (upper body)

Status report

Jooris, Clendening and Raanta were the only participants at the Rangers' optional skate at Barclays Center on Tuesday. … Buchnevich, who hasn't played since Nov. 12, skated on his own Monday but will not play against the Islanders. "Everyone's that working with him right now feels real good about the progression he's made," Vigneault said. "The next step, obviously, is taking this to the ice and seeing how he's going to respond." … Halak will make his third straight start. ... The rest of the Islanders lineup will be determined closer to game time because of a flu bug going around the locker room. "There's something going around; I think everyone's getting hit with it a little bit here," coach Jack Capuano said. "We'll see where we're at. We've got a few game-time decisions tonight. If guys are healthy and ready to go, we'll play them. If not, we'll see what Plan B is going to be." ... The Islanders recalled Mayfield from Bridgeport of the AHL on an emergency basis.

Who's hot

Stepan has one goal and three assists over the past two games. Kreider has two goals and one assist over the same stretch. … Cizikas has one goal and three assists during a three-game point streak. Tavares has a point in six of his past eight games.