Islanders @ Blue Jackets

Who will WIN this matchup?

New York Islanders (33-17-6)

@ Columbus Blue Jackets (32-20-3)

Starting Goalies: 

Thomas Greiss (NYI):  Likely

Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ): Confirmed

Current odds:

New York Islanders: (+125)

Columbus Blue Jackets: (-145)

• The Columbus Blue Jackets have answered a season-high five-game losing skid with four straight victories. The Blue Jackets bid to match a campaign-best winning streak on Thursday’s when they host the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena. Columbus, which last won five in a row from Dec. 17-27, moved to within two points of second-place Washington in the Metropolitan with a 3-0 triumph over the Capitals on Tuesday. Sergei Bobrovsky made 13 of his 20 saves in the third period of that contest to improve to 4-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in February after recording a 2-5-0 mark with a 4.18 GAA and .858 SP in January.

• The Islanders got the better of the two-time Vezina Trophy recipient in the first meeting at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but have been outscored 24-6 while losing all four of their encounters in Columbus over the last two seasons. Casey Cizikas scored to snap a tie in the third period of New York’s 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Dec. 1 and extended his career high in goals to 13 on Tuesday, but the Islanders sustained their second regulation loss in 13 outings (9-2-2) with a 3-1 setback to Buffalo.

• Captain Anders Lee (team-leading 18 goals) was critical of New York’s performance on Tuesday, telling reporters that it took far too long for the team to get into the game. “We only played one good period and it was the third,” the 28-year-old Lee said. “…We got away from our game because of it and we weren’t making plays the first two periods.” Lee joined Anthony Beauvillier in scoring in the second period of the first meeting with Columbus, but the former has just one point in his last 10 contests while the latter has the same total in an eight-game span.

• Fast starts and a strong penalty kill have been pivotal to the success of Columbus, which owns a 22-5-2 mark when scoring the first goal in a game this season while it has thwarted 39-of-40 short-handed situations since Dec. 31. Artemi Panarin also has played a significant role, as the electric forward scored into an empty net on Tuesday to give him 19 (nine goals, 10 assists) of his team-high 64 points in his last 13 contests. Fellow forward Josh Anderson picked up an assist on Panarin’s tally to extend his point streak to four games (three goals, two assists) while defenseman Seth Jones set up captain Nick Foligno’s third-period goal to boost his assist streak to a career high-tying four consecutive contests.

• New York C Mathew Barzal, who leads the club in assists (32) and points (48), has been held off the scoresheet in three straight games.

• The Blue Jackets boast an 8-1-0 mark in their last nine games versus Metropolitan Division representatives.

• New York RW Josh Bailey has collected 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 26 career encounters with Columbus.