Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New York Islanders (21-10-0, 42 points) and Detroit Red Wings (17-7-8, 42 points) face-off for the first of three meetings this season live from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all of the action on WRHU 88.7 while Detroit fans can do the same on 97.1 The Ticket.
New York has won two straight games and enters tonight in second place in the Metropolitan Division while Detroit is on a four-match skid and plays the second contest of a four-game homestand. The Red Wings are in second place in the Atlantic Division.
The Islanders are coming off of a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday and will have two of their blue liners back as Johnny Boychuk and Lubomir Visnovsky return from injuries.
"They will give us real leadership on the back end as well as size," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said, according to NHL.com.
The Isles have been led offensively by captain John Tavares (12 goals, 15 assists) and forward Kyle Okposo (seven tallies, 20 helpers) as each have 27 points. Brock Nelson is second on the team with 24 points by way of lighting the lamp 13 times and adding 11 assists.
The Red Wings come into the game in need of a win as they've scored just four goals during their four-game losing streak.
"I think when you play light in the offensive zone and you don't shoot the puck, you spend too much time in your own zone," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told NHL.com. "When you get out and attack and go after their D and play heavy in the offensive zone, you win pucks and win retrievals and you shoot it, throw it in and jam it at the net; you make it hard."
Henrik Zetterberg has paced the offense so far with 26 points off of five goals and 21 assists. Pavel Datsyuk is second on the team with 23 points off of 12 markers and 11 helpers while Tomas Tatar has found the back of the net 12 times and added nine assists for 21 points.
In net, Detroit is slated to turn to Jimmy Howard and he is 13-5-7 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
New York is set to counter with Jaroslav Halak and he is 16-6-0 with a 2.35 GAA and a .917 save percentage and he also ranks tied for third in the NHL with three shutouts.
The Islanders and Red Wings meet for the first time this season when the puck drops tonight at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
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