Sabres at Islanders preview

SABRES (9-20-7) at ISLANDERS (19-13-4)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG-B, NHL.TV

New York is 2-1-1 on the homestand following its 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
It's the second of seven straight games away from KeyBank Center for the Sabres; Buffalo is hosting the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. The Sabres are 1-3-1 in their past five games and have four wins in their past 21 (4-12-5).

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jack Eichel has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past four games and 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 10.
Islanders forward Josh Bailey has five goals and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak.

They said it

"We certainly are going to have to be ready in this building because they like to start fast. They like to establish a physical presence in their forecheck. They come at you hard, so we need to be ready at the start of the game." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"It'd be big. I still feel like we kind of let a couple slip away. If we find a way to win tonight, it's all in all a pretty good homestand. You're not going to perfect every night and you've got to kind of get over those other ones. I feel like we did that and had a good response last game. We'll try to come out and do the same tonight." -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey

Sabres projected lineup

Zemgus Girgensons -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Evander Kane -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Benoit Pouliot -- Evan Rodrigues -- Jason Pominville
Johan Larsson -- Jacob Josefson -- Jordan Nolan
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe -- Zach Bogosian
Nathan Beaulieu -- Justin Falk
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
Scratched:Scott Wilson, Josh Gorges, Victor Antipin
Injured:Taylor Fedun](https://www.nhl.com/player/taylor-fedun-8476166) (lower body)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Shane Prince -- Brock Nelson -- Anthony Beauvillier
Jason Chimera -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Scott Mayfield
Thomas Hickey -- Dennis Seidenberg
Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Alan Quine, Steve Bernier, Ryan Pulock
Injured:Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body)

Status report

O'Reilly will play after missing Buffalo's 4-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday for the birth of his son. … Halak will make his third straight start. Seidenberg will take Pulock's place after being a healthy scratch for the previous two games.

Stat pack

The Islanders have won three straight against the Sabres and have outscored them 15-6. … Lehner has a .940 save percentage in his past seven games. Buffalo is 0-for-8 on the power play in its past five games. … Tavares has four goals and 11 assists during a seven-game point streak.