NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-25-15) VS WINNIPEG JETS (44-20-5)
1 PM ET | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ESPN 1050AM
In critical need of points, the New York Islanders kick off a back-to-back set at UBS Arena with a matinee against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.
The Islanders are looking to snap a six-game winless skid (0-5-1) after falling 6-3 to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. It’s the second-longest skid of the season for the Isles, who were 0-4-3 from Nov. 4-16. The Isles have been outscored 28-6 over the past six contests.
The Isles (73 points) currently sit five points back of the Red Wings (78 points) for the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference and six points back of the Philadelphia Flyers (79 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. While the Isles hold a game in hand over both teams, there are only 13 games left in the regular season, so the Islanders need to make up ground quickly.
The Jets are coming off a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, which snapped Winnipeg’s three-game winning streak.
Winnipeg (93 points) is battling for the top spot in the Central Division. The Jets are two points back of both the Colorado Avalanche (95 points) and Dallas Stars (95 points), though they have two games in hand on Dallas and one on Colorado. Winnipeg holds the first tiebreaker between the three clubs, with 39 regulation wins.