Senators at Islanders preview

SENATORS (23-38-5) at ISLANDERS (37-21-7)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN5, NHL.TV

New York has been hit hard by the flu during the past two days and recalled forwards
Michael Dal Colle
and
Joshua Ho-Sang
from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. The Islanders are 2-4-1 in their past seven games and 1-3-0 on a five-game homestand, a slump that has dropped them into second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the Washington Capitals.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz will try for the third time to get his 800th NHL win.
Ottawa, which hosts the Islanders on Thursday, ended a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory at the Florida Panthers on Sunday. It was Marc Crawford's first win as Senators coach after he replaced Guy Boucher on March 1.

Players to watch

Senators forward Colin White has two assists in his past three games.
Islanders forward Andrew Ladd has an assist in each of the three games he's played since returning from a lower-body injury on Feb. 26.

They said it

"Teams find ways to rally around big losses like (John Tavares). That's what we're trying to do. We lost (Matt) Duchene, (Mark) Stone and (Ryan) Dzingel, so obviously it's a little late now to kind of get anything going. But that's what teams need to do when they lose a guy like that, especially a captain." -- Senators forward Zack Smith
"We have enough depth on this team to be just fine. Obviously it stinks having guys sick and not feeling well, but it's kind of our team's turn to go through the flu bug or whatever it is. It's just part of the grind of the season." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Chris Tierney -- Colin White
Anthony Duclair -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Bobby Ryan
Zack Smith -- Oscar Lindberg -- Magnus Paajarvi
Rudolfs Balcers -- Brian Gibbons -- Mikkel Boedker
Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo
Ben Harpur -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Christian Jaros
Craig Anderson
Anders Nilsson
Scratched:Christian Wolanin
Injured:None

Islanders projected lineup

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

Status report

Martin participated in the morning skate but is not expected to play. … Cizikas, who left during the third period of a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday because of the flu, is feeling better and is expected to play.

Stat pack

Smith will play his 600th NHL game; he made his debut at Nassau Coliseum on Nov. 29, 2008. … New York has won its past five games against Ottawa, including a 6-3 win at Barclays Center on Dec. 28. The Islanders are 31-2-2 this season when they score at least three goals and 6-19-5 when they don't.