With two games to go, the New York Islanders battle the Washington Capitals, as it seems like they will need to win out to make the postseason.
Washington, D.C. -- The New York Islanders (41-30-9) are in Washington D.C. to face a Capitals team (34-36-9) that has dropped their last six games as they crawl to the finish line.
Puck drop is slated for 7 PM ET at Capital One Arena.
Here's the current standings:
"Our guys are good. I think our guys are focused and ready to go," Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said. " I think we're playing pretty well. I think we played pretty well here for a number of games. Really since the All-Star break, we played some good hockey.
"You're not always going to be perfect, but I think we've been building towards playing pretty decent hockey for sure."
MORNING SKATE UPDATES
Ilya Sorokin was in the starter's crease as he will make his seventh straight start for New York.
He's posted a 1.61 GAA with a .947 SV%, along with a shutout, a stat line that includes a start he got pulled in, after allowing four goals on 21 shots against the Tampa Bay Lightning a week ago.
Defenseman Alexander Romanov (upper body, day-to-day) has not yet resumed skating as he will miss his fourth straight game, per Islanders head coach Lane Lambert.
Mathew Barzal continues to skate on his own, which he has done for over a week now.
Is it safe to assume that these two will not play in the final two regular-season games for New York?
"I don't know that you can assume anything right now. I mean, with a couple of games left, we'll see what happens," Lambert said.
On the Capitals side of things, per colleague Sammi Silber, T.J Oshie and Alex Ovechkin did not take part in their morning skate.
Oshie has been ruled out, and while it is unlikely Ovechkin plays, after missing their last game with an upper-body injury, there is no official report.
Darcy Kuemper is the confirmed starter for Washington. He stopped 28 of 29, allowing two shootout goals the last time these teams met, in what was a 2-1 win for New York.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)
Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Zach-Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Extras: Josh Bailey, Ross Johnston
Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Samuel Bolduc-Noah Dobson
Extras: Parker Wotherspoon
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
WASHINGTON CAPITALS LINES (PROJECTED)
Conor Sheary-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Alexsei Protas
Joel Snively-Nicklas Backstrom-Craig Smith
Beck Malenstyn-Nick Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev-Matt Irwin
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
FANDUEL BETTING CORNER
Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Washington Capitals? You can get the Islanders at -178 & +140 on the puck line. The Capitals come in at +146 & -170 on the reverse puck line.
The over for the contest is 5.5 at -112 with the under at -108.
Lines courtesy of Fanduel Sportsbook
HOW TO WATCH
Monday's contest will be available on MSGSN. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU, and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.