Game 70 Scouting Report: Columbus Trips to Take On the New York Islanders

Columbus Blue Jackets (45-18-6) at New York Islanders (33-26-11)

Saturday, March 18, 2017, 1 p.m. (Barclays Center)

For the past few years, the Islanders have been a bit of an enigma.

They've built from within, taking John Tavares at the top of the 2009 draft and trying to build around him with such talented players as Anders Lee and Josh Bailey. Picking up two defensemen on the cheap like Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk vaulted the team into contention a few years ago, but despite three playoff series in the past four years, the Islanders have won just a single series.

The franchise was expected to take another step forward this year, but instead it's moved backward. A tough season from the very beginning, in part because of inconsistent goaltending, led to the dismissal of head coach Jack Capuano and the hiring of Doug Weight.

That boosted the team's performance for a while, but New York is just 4-5-1 in its last 10 and sits just outside of the playoffs behind second wild card Toronto. Thomas Greiss has stabilized the goaltending some but the team hasn't been able to find the extra gear for the finish, as exhibited by a 4-2 loss Thursday night at home vs. Winnipeg.

“We looked like a tired team,” Weight said. “Mentally, we looked like a team that’s practiced three times in the last 25 days, to be honest. They were rolling off us. They were quicker to the puck.”

You Oughta Know: John Tavares

Who else could it be? Tavares is the franchise for the Islanders, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft who has become one of the NHL's most dependable goal scorers. He has a become a model of consistency in his career, topping the 60-point mark in every season since 2010-11 except for the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign when he had a 28-19-47 line in just 48 games. The centerman with a complete offensive game has 26 goals and 34 helpers this year in 20:21 of ice time per game and is also winning 51.1 percent of his faceoffs for good measure. He's had positive Corsi numbers each year since 2011, with a CF% of 53.0 this season.

[Fire Emoji] Right Now

• The Islanders line of Tavares (10-18-28), Josh Bailey (6-14-20), and Anders Lee (11-10-21) have had five game-winning goals and 27 total tallies in the team's 28 games under Doug Weight. 
• Josh Ho-Sang has three goals and three assists in nine games since making his NHL debut. Read more about the talented youngster here.
• Defenseman Nick Leddy has seven points and is +1 in nine March games. His birthday is March 20.

Five Fast Facts

• The Islanders are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games at Barclays Center and 20-10-6 overall.
• Bailey is just one point shy of his 300th NHL point. Once he hits the 300 mark, he will be the 6th player from his 2008 draft class to hit that milestone (Steven Stamkos, Eric Karlsson, Jordan Eberle, Drew Doughty, and Derek Stepan).
• Injuries: F Casey Cizikas (upper body), D Johnny Boychuk (lower body), F Shane Prince (lower body)
• Former Jackets: Long lauded as one of the fastest players in the league, winger Jason Chimera joined the team in 2005 and became a dependable player, suiting up in at least 80 games three straight years. When he was traded in the middle of the 2009-10 season to Washington for Chris Clark and Milan Jurcina, Chimera had played 331 games for Columbus with 62 goals and 74 assists.
• D Mark Stuart recorded his first assist in 59 games vs. Winnipeg; his previous assist had been December 29, 2015, vs Detroit. 

Previous Matchups

Feb. 25: Columbus 7, New York 0

Jan. 24: New York 4, Columbus 2

Dec. 10: Columbus 6, New York 2

ALL TIME SERIES: Columbus leads 16-8-1-5

Keys to the Game

BE STRONG EARLY: New York is coming off a loss and fighting for a playoff spot, and the teams' last meeting ended in a 7-0 win for Columbus. With the matinee faceoff, the Jackets must be ready to go from the beginning.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This is always a key, but the Islanders are a team in the bottom half of the league in both power play and penalty kill. This is a battle Columbus can win.

THEY DON'T ASK HOW: It seems like the Jackets have been winning in gritty rather than pretty fashion of late, but that's fine to head coach John Tortorella. Facing teams battling for their playoff lives, Columbus has been able to withstand the desperation of opposing teams, something that will come in handy in April.

Islanders Projected Lineup

10 Stats to Know

Impress your friends and enemies alike with these 10 key New York Islanders stats.