Jets at Islanders preview

JETS (20-10-6) at ISLANDERS (18-13-4)
1 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN3, NHL.TV

Winnipeg has earned three of four points splitting the first two games.
It's the fourth of the Islanders' five-game homestand; they are 1-1-1. New York has allowed at least three goals in nine of its 10 games this month, including a 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

Players to watch

Jets forward Bryan Little will play his 709th NHL game, tying him with Chris Thorburn for the most in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history.
Islanders forward Josh Bailey has five consecutive multipoint games and has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"They give up a lot in final numbers, but there are other analytic numbers that suggest they're a better defensive team than you think. They're hard on the forecheck and they're a veteran group, so it's going to be the same game, really, that we've played in the last five." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"We need to regroup somehow and we've got to get two points somehow on Saturday. Just battle and maybe learn from our last two periods (Wednesday) of just the effort and the compete that we had. We didn't sit back, and I think we tried to be a little more physical as a team." --Islanders coach Doug Weight

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Ben Chiarot -- Tucker Poolman
Steve Mason
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Shawn Matthias, Marko Dano
Injured: Dustin Byfuglien (lower body), Toby Enstrom (lower body)

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Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

Mason will make his third start since Nov. 25. … Wheeler is expected to play after blocking a shot late in overtime of a 2-1 shootout loss at the Boston Bruins on Thursday. … The Islanders will provide an update on de Haan before the game. He was injured in overtime of their 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday.

Stat pack

Laine has scored in three straight games. He leads Winnipeg with 18 goals in 36 games. ... New York has won four of its past five games against Winnipeg. … The Islanders are 3-6-2 this month.