The New York Islanders (19-13-10, 48 points 4th Metro) head north of the border on Tuesday to play the Winnipeg Jets (28-10-4, 60 points, 1st Central). New York will play the Minnesota Wild on Monday night before heading off to Winnipeg to play the Jets Tuesday. New York was defeated by the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Saturday night and has lost three of the last four. Winnipeg was defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 Saturday which snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Jets. New York will play without Robert Bortuzzo and Casey Cizikas, while Semyon Varlamov and Ryan Pulock are questionable. Winnipeg will play without Kyle Connor and David Gustafasson, while Mark Scheifele is day-to-day.
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New York is averaging 3.02 goals per game which is 21st in the NHL. The Islanders are averaging 29.5 shots per game which is 22nd and are winning 50.8% of their face-offs which is 12th. New York's power play is ninth best, scoring 24.6% of the time the Islanders have the man advantage. Brock Nelson is the leading goal scorer for New York with 19 and Bo Horvat is second with 17. Noah Dobson is the leader in assists with 37 and Mathew Barzal is second with 33. Barzal is the leader in points with 45 and Dobson is second with 43.
New York has a goals against average of 3.29, which is 21st and is allowing an average of 34.9 shots per game which is 31st or next to last. The penalty kill unit for New York is holding opponents scoreless 72.8% the time the Islanders are short-handed which is only 29th. Ilya Soroki n is 13-9-8 with a 3.16 goals against average and .909 save percentage. Semyon Varlamov, who is 6-4-2 with a 2.78 goals against average and .918 save percentage, could come off the IR on Monday and be available Tuesday.