Nothing more needs to be said about the importance of tonight’s game: The Islanders, despite a pretty gaudy 28-15-5 record, have been up and down since their 17-game points streak and are suffering through a tough January. Tonight’s there last chance to hit the All-Star break and bye week feeling like they’ll rebound.
Oh, and: victories against the rival Rangers are always nice, too. They’re 0-for-2 on that front this month.
From morning skates reports, it looked like the Islanders would be using the same lineup, including Thomas Greiss in goal for a rare back-to-back start and Josh Bailey in despite leaving Sunday’s game in Carolina with illness.