NEW YORK ISLANDERS (19-13-10) AT MINNESOTA WILD (17-20-5)
6 PM ET | XCEL ENERGY CENTER
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The New York Islanders continue their four-game road trip with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.
The Islanders came undone in the final minute of the third period of a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Jean-Gabriel Pageau gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead after 52 minutes of scoreless hockey, but the Islanders allowed a game-tying goal on the power play at 15:08 of the third and gave up the game-winner with 7.9 seconds left in regulation. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in his 10th straight game.
“We played a pretty solid road game for most of it,” Anders Lee said. “There's a lot of things to like, but we have to manage the moments better, especially those last five minutes. We’ve got to get it at least to overtime and get a point out of it.”
The Wild were shut out 6-0 by the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night, extending their winless streak to four games (0-3-1).
ISLANDERS NOTES
- The Islanders open a back-to-back set in the middle of their four-game road trip with a visit to Minnesota to take on the Wild. The Islanders trail the Wild in the season series 0-1-0 after a 4-2 loss at UBS Arena on Nov. 7 at UBS Arena. The Isles are 0-4-1 against Minnesota in their last five meetings.- The Islanders rank fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 48 points. The Devils, Penguins and Capitals are within two points of catching up and all have games in-hand. The Islanders dropped out of wild card position after Detroit (49 points) beat Toronto on Sunday.
- Brock Nelson skated in his 800th NHL game on Saturday night. The center has 497 career NHL points.
- Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom recorded tallies against the Wild in a 4-2 loss on Nov. 7 to open the season series.
- Cal Clutterbuck spent parts of six seasons with Minnesota prior to joining the Islanders in 2013, playing 346 games and collecting 110 points (62G, 48A) with the Wild. The veteran winger has three points (1G, 2A) in 15 career games against his former team.
- Mike Reilly spent three seasons with the Wild from 2015-18, racking up 18 points (4G, 14A) in 84 games.\
WILD NOTES
- Minnesota ranks seventh in the Central Division with 39 points through 42 games and trail the Edmonton Oilers by eight points (47 points, 39 GP) who occupy the second wild card spot. Minnesota lost out on an opportunity to gain ground on a divisional opponent in the Arizona Coyotes with a 6-0 loss on Saturday.- The Wild have struggled on home ice recently, dropping their last six contests (0-5-1) at Xcel Energy Center dating back to Dec. 31.
- Kirill Kaprizov returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. He has 34 points (13G, 21A) through 35 games this season. Kaprizov was selected as the Minnesota's All-Star representative this year.
- Minnesota made a coaching change since the last time the Islanders faced the Wild, parting ways with Head Coach Dean Evason and Asst. Coach Bob Woods on Nov. 27. The change was made after the team went 5-10-4 in their first 19 games of the season. John Hynes replaced Evason behind the bench and has a record of 12-10-1 since stepping in.
- Filip Gustavsson was activated off IR on Saturday and returned to game action after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. He started against the Coyotes, allowing five goals on 18 shots before Marc-Andre Fleury replaced him, making 14 saves to close out the game in a 6-0 loss. Gustavsson is struggling this season compared to his career numbers, posting a 3.13 GAA and a .898 SV% with a record of 10-10-2 on the season.
- Mats Zuccarello returned to the lineup after an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for nine games. The 36-year-old winger racked up 30 points (6G, 24A) this season and is expected to play in his 800th NHL game on Monday against the Islanders.
- Jared Spurgeon missed the last six games with a lower-body injury. The veteran defenseman has five points (5) through 16 games in his 14th season with Minnesota.
