New York @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 9, 2019 ) NY Islanders 5, Tampa Bay 1

The New York Islanders are riding a five-game point streak as they prepare to embark on a difficult stretch of road games that begins with a matchup against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. The Islanders are 3-0-2 in the last five contests and will play six of the next seven away from home, including a trip to NHL-best Washington on Monday along with games at Colorado and Vegas.

“I think the mentality has to be a continuation of, I think, where we’ve been since the break, just the task at hand and the game that we have and not look down the schedule or look at the standings,” New York captain Anders Lee told Newsday. “Just take care of our own business.” The Islanders have earned at least a point in four straight games against the Lightning (3-0-1), including a 5-2 victory at home Nov. 1 and a 5-1 triumph at Tampa Bay on Dec. 9 with five total points from Lee and four from fellow forward Josh Bailey. The Lightning are riding another streak with five straight victories and at least a point in seven straight contests (6-0-1), and are 17-2-1 in the past 20 games after weathering an early storm and going on to beat Pittsburgh 4-2 on Thursday at home. “They got off to a good start so we had to match their work ethic,” Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev told reporters after scoring the first goal Thursday. “Our skating took over and we were able to score a couple of goals.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG 2, FS Sun

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (31-15-6): Left wing Kiefer Bellows, the 19th pick in the 2016 draft, has made quite an impression in his first two NHL games with two goals and an assist with five shots and a plus-4 rating. “He shows you he can skate when you’re engaged and you’re working hard,” coach Barry Trotz said of the son of former NHL forward Brian Bellows. “I know he has enough intelligence in the league, calmness in his game, understanding of the game and he’s hard on pucks.” All-Star center Mathew Barzal leads the team with 44 points after collecting a goal and five assists in his last five contests.

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (34-15-5): Tampa Bay lost Jan Rutta indefinitely with a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s win over Vegas and fellow defenseman Ryan McDonagh’s status is uncertain after he left Thursday’s contest with an apparent foot injury. Right wing Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 65 points, including 16 (eight goals) during his current nine-game point streak, while captain Steven Stamkos has matched his linemate’s run and is tied with the reigning Hart Trophy winner at 25 goals to top the team. Andrei Vasilevskiy (league-best 28 wins) made 29 saves and is 15-0-2 over his last 17 outings, suffering his last regulation loss on Dec. 14.

OVERTIME

1. Tampa Bay LW Ondrej Palat has recorded 10 of his 36 points in the last eight games and entered Friday tied for fourth in the league at plus-26.

2. New York C Brock Nelson leads the team with 21 goals and has scored twice while setting up three others in his past four games.

3. The Lightning recalled D Cameron Gaunce from AHL Syracuse for depth with McDonagh’s status up in the air.

PREDICTION: Lightning 3, Islanders 1