New York @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 13, 2018 ) Vancouver 2, NY Islanders 5

The New York Islanders have gone more than three months without losing three straight games and will look to keep that streak intact when they wind up a three-game road trip with a visit to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. New York dropped the first two games on the trek through Western Canada to whittle their lead atop the Metropolitan Division to two points.

The Islanders scored three first-period goals Thursday but gave up a late tying tally in regulation before Connor McDavid scored in overtime in a 4-3 loss to Edmonton. "It's a couple of tough games for us, it's going to be important here that we bounce back and re-focus and get back to playing the way we need to play," defenseman Ryan Pulock said. New York hasn't lost three in a row since Nov. 5-10, a slide it ended with a 5-2 home win over the Canucks to stretch its point streak in the series to six games (5-0-1). Vancouver, which is 2-5-2 in its last nine, is among a slew of teams battling for the final two playoff spots in the West but back-to-back losses allowed Colorado, Chicago and Arizona to leapfrog the Canucks this week.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), City, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (35-18-7): Although New York has surrendered a league-low 146 goals after permitting the most in the NHL last season, it has yielded four tallies in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 18-21. "We're playing well but we've got to recognize that the last few games, we're starting to get away from the things that make us successful," said goaltender Robin Lehner, who dropped to 14-3-2 in his last 19 decisions after giving up four goals for the first time since Nov. 21. Captain Anders Lee has scored in three straight games and has three goals and eight points in 10 games versus Vancouver.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (26-27-8): Forward Antoine Roussel set up both goals, including a backhand pass to Bo Horvat, in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to Arizona to give him 27 points on the season, two shy of his career high. “He’s had five or six or those (backhanders) this year and he’s phenomenal at it," Horvat said. "He has been unbelievable. Big minutes, every situation, and his 5-on-5 play has been outstanding. Every shift, every game.” Ryan Spooner, acquired in a trade with Edmonton, made his debut with Vancouver on Thursday and notched four shots on goal while playing with rookie Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.

OVERTIME

1. Islanders G Thomas Greiss is 3-2-0 with a 2.99 goals-against average versus Vancouver.

2. Vancouver is 4-for-53 on the power play over the past 18 games.

3. Islanders F Tom Kuhnhackl is mired in an 18-game goal drought since scoring twice versus Vancouver in November.

PREDICTION: Islanders 4, Canucks 2