Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Islanders (21-27-8, 50 points) and New York Rangers (29-23-3, 61 points) faceoff live from Madison Square Garden in New York City for the fifth and final time this season. The game can be live streamed here. Islander fans can hear all of the action on 88.7 WRHU while Ranger fans can do the same on 98.7 ESPN New York.
This is the third meeting between these two teams in the last 10 days. They've split the season series 2-2 thus far, with the Rangers picking up the last win via a 2-1 margin at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night in the Bronx as a part of the NHL Stadium Series.
With four games left on their schedule before the Olympic break, the Islanders need as many wins as they can get as they've gone 3-5-1 in their last nine.
"We're playing well enough to win, but we've got to find a way to win, that is the bottom line," coach Jack Capuano said via ESPN. "Because we played quite a bit of hockey now, and we've got a week left here before the Olympic break."
The Rangers are coming off a successful Stadium Series that saw the team gain four points with defeats of the New Jersey Devils Sunday and then the Islanders on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
"I think our group realized we need the points and these are tough opponents and tough division games," defenseman Ryan McDonagh told NHL.com. "It's going to be tight the whole way in the East, especially in our division."
The Rangers have been led offensively by Mats Zuccarello, who has three points in his last two games and 38 points off of 15 goals and 23 assists while Brad Richards also has 38 points off of 13 tallies and 25 helpers and Derek Stepan has lit the lamp 10 times and added 25 assists for 35 points.
John Tavares has led the Islanders with 64 points off of 23 goals and 41 assists while Kyle Okposo has 14 points in his last 10 games and has found the back of the net 23 times this season while adding 34 helpers for 57 points and Thomas Vanek has 19 markers and 28 assists for 47 points.
In net, the Islanders will likely turn to Evgeni Nabokov, who is 9-9-5 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage while Henrik Lundqvist will likely suit up for the Rangers and is 19-18-3 with a 2.50 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
Two division rivals faceoff for the final time in the regular-season when the puck drops at Madison Square Garden tonight in New York City.
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