The puck will drop tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City on two red-hot teams as the Metropolitan Division-leading New York islanders (28-13-1, 57 points) and surging New York Rangers (24-11-4, 52 points) play for the second time this season.
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The Isles have surged out of the gate this season and have surpassed the Penguins atop the standings while maintaining their place as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and NHL.
The Blueshirts, meanwhile, have shaken off a rocky start as the reigning Eastern Conference champions have won 13 of their last 14 games and own the top wild-card spot in the conference. The Rangers enter play trailing the Islanders by five points with three games in hand.
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Here are four things to look for when the Islanders and Rangers play for the first time since October when the Isles notched a 6-3 victory over the Blueshirts.
The Offense: The Islanders boast a potent offensive group that has been paced by All-Star captain John Tavares, who has a team-best 39 points off of 19 goals and 20 assists.
The Isles have navigated through some struggles with their top line, but Tavares' linemate Kyle Okposo is second on the team with 37 points, though it's a bit troubling that he has just nine goals on the campaign.
Ryan Strome (seven tallies, 23 assists) is third on the team with 30 points while Brock Nelson has shown his ability to find the back of the net to the tune of 15 goals.
Much like last season's run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Rangers have been able to roll four competent lines this season. The Blueshirts' offense has run through All-Star Rick Nash, who is tied for the NHL lead with 26 goals and paces the Rangers with 41 points.
Nash's linemate Derick Brassard is also having a solid campaign with 33 points off of 11 markers and 22 helpers while veteran Martin St. Louis has continued to be a shot in the arm for the Rangers, notching 32 points by way of lighting the lamp 14 times and adding 18 assists.
The Rangers rank third in the league with 3.13 goals per game while the Islanders sit at seventh with 2.98.
Edge: Even
The Defense: The Rangers blue line is anchored by a physical crew in captain Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. Girardi leads all defenseman by averaging 23:38 of ice time while McDonagh (23:03) and Staal (22:13) also log heavy minutes. Kevin Klein has shown his knack for offense, leading the D-men with eight goals and 15 points.
The Islanders made some big moves to shore up their defensive corps, trading for Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy to add to a blue line that already contains young Calvin de Haan, Lubomir Visnovsky (injured reserve) and Travis Hamonic. Leddy has led the way offensively by pacing the defense with six goals and 19 points while Boychuk has logged the heaviest minutes with an average of 21:55 time on ice. Boychuk leads the blue liners with 15 assists to show off his playmaking skills and he is tied with Leddy with 19 points.
The Islanders defense is part of the reason for its success and while the Rangers have some big names, they have been far too inconsistent overall this season at their end of the ice, though they have cleaned it up during the recent good stretch.
Edge: Islanders
The Goalies: The Rangers boast a 'King' in the net in Henrik Lundqvist, who despite some struggles has really been turning it on as of late. Lundqvist is 11-1-0 in his last 12 starts and became the first goalie to notch 20 wins in each of his first 10 seasons in the history of the NHL in the Blueshirts' 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Lundqvist is 20-8-3 this season with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage while his five shutouts rank second in the NHL.
The Islanders didn't only fix their defense heading into this season as the team also shored itself up between the pipes by bringing in Jaroslav Halak, who is a big reason why the team is as good as it is at this point in the season.
Halak is tied for third in the league in wins (22) and shutouts (3) thus far this season. Halak's overall record in the crease is 22-8-0 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
This is about as close a matchup as possible between these two teams as the numbers for these two goalies are very similar. Halak has more wins while Lundqvist's GAA and save percentage is better and he has more shutouts. Given Lundqvist's reputation for coming through in big games, he'll get the nod here.
Edge: Rangers.
The Special Teams: On the power play the Islanders find themselves in the middle of the pack with an 18.6 percent conversion rate that puts them at 16th in the league.
One player to watch on the man-advantage is Nelson, who has a team-best nine power play goals while Tavares paces the club with 16 power play points.
The Rangers man-advantage has improved lately, going 6-for-14 in its most recent stretch and is converting at a 20.7 clip overall to place it at ninth in the NHL. St. Louis has a team-best five power play goals while Brassard leads the Blueshirts with 14 points when they are up a man.
The Isles' penalty kill has struggled throughout the season and still sits near the bottom of the NHL with a 76.5 percent mark that ranks 26th in the league. The Islanders, however, are tied for the league lead with six short-handed goals.
The Rangers penalty kill has been successful 82.3 percent of the time, good enough for 12th in the NHL. The Blueshirts have four short-handed goals on the campaign.
Edge: Rangers
While the Rangers have had the better numbers in most categories this season, the Islanders have been able to put together some big wins to surpass them in the standings.
It's a huge game for New York hockey when the first place Islanders visit the red-hot Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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