Islanders at Rangers preview

ISLANDERS (23-14-4) at RANGERS (17-18-7)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+2, NHL.TV

The Rangers have been outscored 22-5 during the losing streak, including 15-3 during an 0-3-0 road trip.
The Islanders will try for their seventh victory in eight games; they had their six-game winning streak end in a 4-3 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Islanders rookie defenseman
Devon Toews
has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games.
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad ended a nine-game goal drought against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

They said it

"One of the things that you have to understand if you're going to be a consistent team is that you lose a game, it's the next game, because all the good work you might have done for two weeks can go out the window in the next week's work." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"The stretch between Christmas and everybody's break really makes or breaks your season. We've obviously put ourselves in a difficult position over the last week where now it's really make or break for us here in the next 10 days. These are pivotal games." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Islanders projected lineup

Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Michael Dal Colle
-- Valtteri Filppula -- Leo Komarov
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston
Injured: Andrew Ladd (lower body), Thomas Hickey (upper body)

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Mats Zuccarello
Filip Chytil -- Ryan Strome -- Jesper Fast
Jimmy Vesey -- Brett Howden -- Vladislav Namestnikov
Cody McLeod --
Boo Nieves
-- Pavel Buchnevich
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Adam McQuaid
Fredrik Claesson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched:Brendan Smith, Tony DeAngelo
Injured: Kevin Hayes (upper body)

Status report

Hayes will miss his fourth consecutive game. He participated in the Rangers full team morning skate wearing a red no-contact jersey. … Claesson will play after being scratched the past two games and will replace DeAngelo.

Stat pack

Lehner is 7-0-0 with 1.22 goals-against average and .959 save percentage in seven appearances since Dec. 18. He allowed five goals on 27 shots in a 5-0 loss to the Rangers at the Garden on Nov. 21. … The Rangers are 5-10-5 in 20 games since that win against the Islanders, who are 13-6-2 in the same span.