It better be. The Islanders limped into the season’s pause on an 0-3-4 skid, 2-7-4 after Casey Cizikas (left leg laceration) was hurt and 10-13-7 without Adam Pelech (Achilles tendon). Those two, plus Cal Clutterbuck (left wrist laceration) are back to full strength, giving the Islanders hope they can recapture the consistency they had in a franchise-record 15-0-2 streak from Oct. 12-Nov. 23.
2. Will the Islanders’ penalty kill or Panthers’ power play be better?
There’s no doubt the Panthers have a dangerous power play, driven by Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov, who each had 11 man-advantage goals, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Keith Yandle, who tied Hoffman for the team lead with 21 power-play assists.