New York Rangers plays host to New York Islanders in the fifth of the six scheduled meetings between them
The first game of Tuesday will be played at the Madison Square Garden as New York Rangers play host to New York Islanders.
This will be the fifth game between the two sides during the course of the season out of the six scheduled meetings between the two teams.
Islanders won the first game 6-4 but Rangers have dominated the series ever since then.
Rangers have won the last three games and won the last game by 7-2 on the 27th of December.
The teams will meet for the first time after the New Year. Rangers have totally outscored Islanders in the last three games defeating them by a combined score of 15-7.
Rangers are in the final playoff position and need a win if they want to stay in the cut.
Islanders may seem to be out of contention but this isn’t the case yet as they are 11 points behind Rangers.
Islanders will be looking to spoil Rangers' chances of making it into the cut by winning as Carolina Hurricanes are four points behind Rangers in the ninth spot.
Rangers were one of the strong teams in the league but their recent form has hurt them a great deal.
They lost the game against Anaheim Ducks but came up with a decent performance against San Jose Sharks to win the game 3-2 after shootout.
"I think we salvaged the trip," Rangers' coach, John Tortorella, said. "It's a good answer. We still have things to work on. We played against a very good hockey club and found a way to win."
Henrik Lundrvist, goalkeeper of Rangers, is in hot form and is expected to make his 15th consecutive start when Rangers square off against Islanders.
Rangers have played 70 games during the course of the season out which they have won 36 games in regulation time and four games in overtime to score a total of 76 points.
Islanders, on the other hand, have also played 70 games out of which they have won 27 games in regulation time and 11 games in overtime to score a total of 65 points.
Though Islanders are down in the table, that is due to some poor form early on in the season.
Now, Islanders are playing some of their best ice hockey. Islanders lost their last game after a tough game by 3-2 to New Jersey Devils.
They have been among one of the those teams in the National Hockey League that have come across a lot of success in the second half of the season with the goalkeeper, Al Montoya, playing a major role in this.
"I'm just trying to do what I can do," Montoya said. "I'm feeding off the team right now. I just wanted to give the team a chance and make that save and be sharp."
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