NHL Game Preview - Vancouver at NY Islanders

Sat Feb 1, 2020 1:00 PM EST

The New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks both exceeded expectations before the All-Star break. Their reward: Almost no room for error as the postseason push nears.

The Islanders and Canucks will both be looking to maintain their precarious standing in the playoff race Saturday afternoon, when New York returns from the break by playing host to Vancouver in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Islanders haven't played since Jan. 21, when they snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the host New York Rangers.

The Canucks continued surging Wednesday, when they began a five-game road trip by scoring four goals in the third period of a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Beating the Rangers allowed the Islanders to exhale as they headed into the extended break with a little cushion in a jam-packed Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Islanders, who generally stood pat over the summer after a surprise trip to the conference semifinals last spring, appeared to be cementing themselves as a Stanley Cup contender during a team-record 17-game point streak (15-0-2) from Oct. 12 to Nov. 23.

They are just 13-12-3 since then and entered the All-Star break in third place in the Metropolitan Division, but only slightly ahead of the final wild card, the Carolina Hurricanes.

"We're mentally and physically fatigued, and the break is going to do us good," Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. "If we would have lost that game in any way, shape or form, I think it would have been a big punch to the stomach."

The Islanders' breathing room is shrinking after the Toronto Maple Leafs moved into a tie with the Hurricanes for the second wild card by winning their first two games of the second half. The race does not figure to be decided any time soon.

The Canucks, who missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season last year, entered the break as part of an even bigger logjam. Vancouver, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers hit the All-Star Game tied for first place in the Pacific Division with 58 points apiece, one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes.

But wins over the St. Louis Blues - whom Vancouver defeated 3-1 on Monday - and Sharks lifted the Canucks into sole possession of first place in the Pacific, two points ahead of the Flames.

With two months remaining in the NHL's regular-season schedule, though, Vancouver knows its chief concern is the schedule at hand.

"We just want to keep this thing going the way it's going," Canucks center Brandon Sutter said Wednesday afternoon, hours before he scored the third of the four third-period goals.

The Canucks will close out their road trip with four games in six days, going to Carolina, Boston and Minnesota after an evening in Brooklyn.

The Islanders remain home with games against Dallas and the Los Angeles Kings before going on the road. They will be challenged on a Feb. 8-10 trek at Tampa Bay and Washington.

--Field Level Media