Wild Warmup: Minnesota at New York Islanders

The essentials

The opponent

The New York Islanders are coming off back-to-back 3-0 shutout victories, the first at home against the New York Rangers on Thursday and the second at Carolina on Friday. The victories followed up a stretch where the Islanders had lost four of their previous five contests.
Goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss were outstanding in the shutouts; Halak made 50 saves in the win over the Rangers, while Greiss stopped 45 shots in Carolina.
The game Monday is the final one in a stretch of seven of nine at Barclays Center for the Islanders. After the game, New York will play at home just twice over the next four weeks.
Forward John Tavares leads the Islanders with 30 goals and 64 points. Rookie forward Mathew Barzal has 16 goals and 62 points, while Josh Bailey has 15 goals and 62 points. Anders Lee is second on the club with 29 goals.
Halak has seen more action between the posts this season, posting an 18-18-4 record with a 3.17 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 38 starts.

Connections

• Wild forward Nino Niederreiter was selected by the Islanders with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and collected three points (2-1=3) in 64 games with New York (2010-12).
• Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon was drafted by New York in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry draft (156th overall).
• Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck was selected by Minnesota in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (72nd overall) and collected 110 points and 1,457 hits in 346 contests with the Wild (2007-13).
• Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy is a native of Eden Prairie and was selected by the Wild in the first round (16th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
• Islanders forward Anders Lee hails from Edina.
• Islanders forward Brock Nelson is from Warroad and played collegiately at the University of North Dakota.

Powered by Parise

Wild forward Zach Parise has 45 career points (20-25=45) against the Islanders, his most against any opponent. The former New Jersey Devil has played 49 career games against the Isles.
Parise has totaled at least one point in eight of his past 10 games against the Islanders, totaling 11 points (3-8=11) in those 10 meetings since March 8, 2010.

Island hunters

The Wild is 5-3-0 in its last eight matches against the Islanders, outscoring New York 25-13 in those five victories. Eleven of the 23 all-time meetings with New York have been decided by one goal, with Minnesota boasting a 7-3-1 mark in those games.
Related:
- Wild hopes to make up lost ground during New York trip - Minnesota falls to Ducks in 11-round shootout