DEVILS DANCE: Islanders Lineup, Matchups and Game Notes vs. New Jersey

The New York Islanders will look to show no Sympathy for the Devils when they face New Jersey tonight in Newark.

Tonight is the Islanders’ only game on the road during a 10 game stretch that has them playing nine of those contests at the Nassau Coliseum. The Isles haven’t seen New Jersey since a 2-0 loss at the Prudential back on Jan. 24.

New York and New Jersey will face one another four times over the next eight games and tonight marks the first time the Islanders will play in front of fans this season. New Jersey begins allowing fans into Prudential Center tonight, while the Islanders game against them on March 11 will mark the first time this year that spectators will be inside Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders will return to Semyon Varlamov in net tonight after Ilya Sorokin shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday for his second NHL win.

What will remain a mystery until puck drop is the status of Cal Clutterbuck. He was skating when Islanders head coach Barry Trotz spoke with reporters today.

Trotz said that Clutterbuck will take part in warmups tonight and then the team will decide if he can play after that.

“I talked to him yesterday, he was feeling much better,” Trotz said. “Does that mean he will be in the lineup or not? I really can’t give you an answer.”

Trotz did not address the rest of the Islanders lineup, so it would be safe to infer that there wouldn’t be any other changes aside from the return of Clutterbuck.

New Jersey will go with Aaron Dell in net against the Islanders. Nico Hischier will miss his second consecutive game tonight with an upper-body injury, New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said this afternoon.

New York Islanders Lineup (Projected)

Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle

Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Josh Bailey

Michael Dal Colle — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Leo Komarov

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Nick Leddy — Scott Mayfield

Andy Greene — Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin

New Jersey Devils Lineup (Projected)

Andreas Johnsson — Jack Hughes — Kyle Palmieri

Jesper Bratt — Pavel Zacha — Nikita Gusev

Miles Wood — Travis Zajac — Yegor Sharangovich

Mikhail Maltsev — Michael McLeod — Nathan Bastian

Ty Smith — Damon Severson

Dmitry Kulikov — P.K. Subban

Will Butcher — Sami Vatanen

Aaron Dell

Scott Wedgewood

Game Notes

Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha are tied for New Jersey’s team lead in goals with six. Zacha also leads New Jersey in points with 14 (six goals, eight assists) through 17 games. … New Jersey’s penalty kill is last in the league with a successful kill rate of 62.3 percent. … New Jersey enters tonight’s game on a six-game home point streak against the Islanders. … The Islanders have earned a point in 12 of their last 14 games (8-2-4) and earned 18 points (8-2-2) in the month of February. … Oliver Wahlstrom enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak (two goals, three assists). Wahlstrom has five points in that span. … The Islanders are in the middle of a stretch that will see them play 19 games over the course of 33 days.

How to watch

Tonight’s game will air on MSG+2 and stream on MSG Go or on NHL.TV outside of the New York market. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on WNYM 970 AM, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.