Game Preview: Islanders to Wild

New York Islanders (25-22-7) in Minnesota Wild (32-19-4)

20.00 A | Xcel Energy Center

See: MSGSN | Msg+ | ESPN+

Hear: 88.7fm | 103.9fm | Islanders + UBS Arena App

New York Islanders takes on Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center on Saturday night in the last game before 4 Nations Face-off break.

The islanders fought hard, but fell 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets Friday night in the first half of a back-to-back set. Simon Holmstrom, Marc Gatcomb and Kyle Palmieri scored in the loss and Ilya Sorokin made 23 rescues. The islanders recorded a season high 19 shot on goal in the final setting in a furious effort to get back and tie the game, but came short.

“It was a good effort from our guys, I thought it was a hard -fought game,” said head coach Patrick Roy. “We had our chances at the end, and (Connor Hellebuyck) created a nice rescue at Casey (Cizikas), but sometimes it’s a game inches.”

The islanders (57 points) remain four points back on Detroit Red Wings (61 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the eastern conference. The Isles turns their attention to Saturday’s opponent to go into the break on a strong note.

“It’s a big one here before the break, and we need all the points we can get,” Bo Horvat said after Friday’s loss.

The Wild broke a two-match’s losing shit with a 2-1 win over Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Yakov Trenin and Vinnie Hinostroza scored for Minnesota, while Filip Gustavsson made 37 savings in the victory.

Seasonal series

The Isles went 0-2-0 against Minnesota last season. The Wild is one of two teams Isles has not been exposed to this season (the other team is the nashville predators).