Predators host Islanders in first meeting of the season

The New York Islanders visit the Nashville Predators tonight at Bridgestone Arena, with puck drop at 8 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. CDT). The game streams nationally on ESPN+, airs on MSG2 in New York and streams locally on Scripps Sports. It's the first meeting of the season between the two clubs, and the second game of Nashville's five-game homestand. Read more: Predators host Islanders in first meeting of the season

Nashville enters at 4-3-4, good for 12 points through 11 games. New York is 5-4-2, also 12 points through 11 games. The teams are tied in the standings, though they've gotten there differently.

Nashville is 2-3 in its last five games, with a shutout loss at Boston and an overtime loss at Pittsburgh mixed in. New York is also 2-3 over its last five. But its most recent result was a 6-3 loss at Dallas on Sunday.

Related: Predators rout Avalanche behind four power-play goals

Islanders injury list keeps growing

New York is without four regulars. Center Mathew Barzal has been on injured reserve with a knee injury since before the season started. The team has given no timetable for his return. Alexander Romanov, a top-four defenseman, had knee surgery and is out long-term, with a return targeted for next April.

Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie, hurt in the same Oct. 17 win at Toronto, have no firm return date yet either. "There's no expediting what he's going through ... he wants to get back here as quickly as anybody," Islanders coach Pete DeBoer said of Barzal's rehab.

Nashville, meanwhile, has no players on the injury report this morning, the only team in this series with a clean bill of health 11 games into the season.

New York's best recent storyline belongs to a 19-year-old. Matthew Schaefer has 24 career goals, tying Bobby Orr for the second-most by a teenage defenseman in NHL history. The Islanders killed off all 11 penalties they faced over a four-game stretch before Sunday's loss at Dallas. That special-teams number matters more now, with Barzal and Romanov out of the lineup.

Related: Avalanche visit Predators to open five-game homestand

Goalie options

Nashville's goalie options are Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen, who started and won Sunday's 6-2 rout of Colorado, his former team. The Predators led that game 5-1 after two periods. New York's options are Ilya Sorokin, the clear No. 1 this season, and Semyon Varlamov.

DraftKings lists Nashville as a -122 favorite on the moneyline, with the Islanders at +102, a puck line of Nashville -1.5 and a total of 5.5, according to ESPN's odds tracker. That's the market's number, not advice.

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Puck drops at Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m. EDT, and Washington comes to town Thursday to keep the homestand going.