The last time the New York Islanders were showcased to a national audience things did not go well. They were embarrassed by the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 8-4. They hope for a better showing tonight against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Islanders got help last night, from of all teams, the Arizona Coyotes, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3. The Isles sit one point ahead of the Bolts and trail the Toronto Maple Leafs by three points in the battle for the final wild card spot. All this help is well and good but ultimately means nothing if the Islanders (1-3-1 in their last five games) cannot turns things around.
Interim head coach Doug Weight changed things up following Saturday's OT loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team had two full days of practice for the first time in a while. These are the projected lines
Andrew Ladd-John Tavares-Josh Bailey Anders Lee-Anthony Beauvillier-Josh Ho-Sang Brock Nelson-Ryan Strome-Jason Chimera Nikolay Kulemin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
The Rangers are playing the second half of a back-to-back set after losing 3-2 in overtime in New Jersey on Tuesday night. Antti Raanta has started six straight games in Hendrik Lundqvist's absence, so it's unclear if he'll get back-to-back starts. Magnus Hellberg has started just one game this season.
The Islanders are 6-1 in their last seven games against the Rangers, who have lost six straight games at the Garden.
Thomas Greiss will get the start. If general manager Garth Snow can swallow his pride, Jaroslav Halak should be recalled from Bridgeport to start one of the back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins this weekend.