NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-4-0) VS NEW YORK RANGERS (3-2-2)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
WATCH: TNT
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The New York Islanders look to snap a three-game losing streak in a rivalry matchup against the New York Rangers on Wednesday at UBS Arena.
The Islanders (2-4-0) come into Wednesday's matchup after losing both games of a back-to-back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on the road. The Islanders also lost their last home game, against the New Jersey Devils.
"A consistent mindset of how we want to play, that's taking a little bit of time, but I think we've seen a lot of progress," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "I know the record isn't what we want, but there's progress in how we're playing. We're generating shots on goal, in a position to give ourselves a chance every night and that's what we were focusing on."
The Rangers are on the second leg of a back-to-back, coming off a 3-2 shootout loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Barclay Goodrow and Adam Fox scored for the Rangers, who forced overtime with a late third period goal, but the team couldn't pull it out in the shootout.
This is the only Islanders-Rangers game this season at UBS Arena. Islander legend Denis Potvin will be in attendance for the debut of his new Potvin Socks, a play on the Rangers' infamous "Potvin Sucks" chant. Ten percent of proceeds will go to the Islanders Children's Foundation. The game will also feature the renaming of the UBS Arena press level after longtime hockey reporter Stan Fischler.
ISLANDERS NOTES:
- Anders Lee leads the Islanders with seven points (4G, 3A) in six games. With two goals Sunday against Florida, Lee is also the team's leading goal scorer. Both of Lee's goals Sunday came on the power play, making him the Islanders' leading power- play goal scorer.- Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal are each tied for second in team scoring with six assists each. The two were tied for the team scoring lead last season with 59 points each. Barzal led the team in assists last season, while Nelson led the team in goals.
- The Islanders' penalty kill is still a perfect 22-for-22. They set a franchise record Sunday for most consecutive penalty kills to start a season. The previous record was 21, set in 1981-82 and tied in 1987-88. The Islanders are one of just two teams that have not conceded a power- play goal so far this year.
- The Islanders extended their NHL-leading total number of goals scored by defensemen to seven on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, when Ryan Pulock scored his first goal of the season. Noah Dobson, Robin Salo and Scott Mayfield each have two goals in addition to Pulock's one.
- Casey Cizikas overtook John Tavares on Sunday to take 13th place on the all-time Islanders games played leaderboard with 670 games.
- The Islanders have won six of their last eight games against the Rangers. The two teams split the season series last year, with the road team winning all four meetings.
RANGERS STATS:
- Artemi Panarin is tied for the NHL lead in scoring with 12 points (4G, 8A) in seven games. Panarin had a six-game point streak to start the season, including four-point efforts against the Anaheim Ducks and the Minnesota Wild, but it was snapped on Tuesday vs Colorado.- The Rangers signed Vincent Trocheck from the Carolina Hurricanes to a seven-year contract this offseason. Trocheck is off to a hot start, with six points (2G, 4A) in seven games. Last season, Trocheck scored 51 points (21G, 30A) in 81 games with the Hurricanes.
- The Rangers lost center Filip Chytil to an upper-body injury during their game Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Chytil is expected to miss the next four games, including Wednesday's matchup against the Islanders. Chytil has three points (2G, 1A) in six games so far this year, and a 65.58 expected goals percentage at five-on-five according to Natural Stat Trick, second highest on the Rangers.
- Jaroslav Halak is likely to start in goal for the New York Rangers after Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin started against the Avalanche on Tuesday. Halak played four seasons with the Islanders, from 2014-18, and owns the franchise record for most wins by a goaltender in a single season, with 38 in 2014-15. Halak is 0-2-2 with a 5.62 GAA and a .825 SV% in four games vs the Islanders since leaving the team.
- Mika Zibanejad is tied for the team lead in goals with four, and has eight total points (4G, 4A) in seven games so far this year. Zibanejad is in the first year of an eight-year contract extension he signed last offseason to stay with the Rangers.
Game Preview: Islanders vs Rangers | New York Islanders
The Islanders and Rangers face off in a rivalry matchup at UBS Arena (7:30 p.m., TNT)
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