Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, MSG-Plus (New York)
PREDICTION: Panthers 3, Islanders 2

Oddsmakers currently have the FLORIDA listed as 115-moneyline favorites versus the NY ISLANDERS, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

NEW YORK — The last time the New York Islanders hosted the Florida Panthers was April 24, when Islanders captain John Tavares authored the most dramatic hockey moment the Barclays Center has seen by scoring in double overtime to give New York a series-winning victory over the Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Tavares’ dramatic goal will seem a lot further away than a mere 270 days Wednesday night, when the reeling Islanders host the Panthers in the lone game between the teams this season at Barclays Center.

The Islanders fell to the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in a shootout Saturday. It was the second straight 2-1 loss to a Western Conference also-ran for New York (15-15-8), which lost in overtime to Colorado on Friday.

The losing streak has stalled the momentum the Islanders created before their “bye week,” which they entered off a 4-1-0 stretch. New York has the fewest points in the Eastern Conference a season after reaching the conference semifinals for the first time since 1993.

“Before the break, everything seemed to be going in for us,” Shane Prince told Newsday following Saturday’s loss. “It’s obviously frustrating to get two points and only score two goals.”

The Islanders won’t be alone Wednesday in feeling as if last spring happened long ago. The Panthers, who reached the playoffs in 2015-16 for only the second time in the last 15 seasons, are two points out of third place in the Atlantic Division. But Florida (18-16-8) is only 7-7-7 since Tom Rowe replaced Gerard Gallant, who was fired following an 11-9-1 start.

The Panthers are coming off a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday, when goalie Roberto Luongo moved into fifth place on the NHL’s all-time list by earning the 448th victory of his career.

Afterward, Luongo was more concerned with the Panthers’ perilous standing in the Eastern Conference than his place in NHL history.

“I think right now, I just want to get some wins,” Luongo said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs, so that’s what my focus is on, 100 percent. The other things will take care of (themselves) and we’ll reflect on them when it’s all said and done. But as a group, we have one goal in mind, and that’s to play good every night, keep collecting some point and try to get back in this thing.”

Luongo is likely to oppose Thomas Greiss in a rematch of the starting goalies in last spring’s playoff series. Greiss, who became the Islanders’ unquestioned starter when Jaroslav Halak was waived Dec. 30 and eventually assigned to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, stopped 63 of the 66 shots he faced in regulation and overtime of New York’s last two defeats.

The game Wednesday is the first of two straight between the Islanders and Panthers, who oppose each other in Sunrise, Fla., on Friday.

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St. Louis Blues vs New York Islanders
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 8, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), MSG-Plus (New York)
PREDICTION: Islanders 3, Blues 2

NEW YORK — The New York Islanders have spent the last week proving they can play with the best teams in the Eastern Conference. On Thursday night, the Islanders will get a chance to see how they stack up against the red-hot St. Louis Blues, who are the second-best team in the Western Conference.

The Islanders will host the Blues for the only time this season when the two teams square off at Barclays Center. Both clubs won Tuesday, when New York extended its point streak to five games with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers while St. Louis kept rolling with a 3-2 overtime win over the East-leading Montreal Canadiens.

The Islanders (10-10-5) have gone 4-0-1 in their last five games — a stretch in which they’ve beaten the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, all of whom currently occupy a playoff spot — to climb out of the NHL basement and move to the fringe of the East playoff race.

“It gives our guys a little bit of confidence that we can play with some of the top teams, record-wise, in the East,” Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said.

Despite the recent surge, the Islanders still have a long road ahead if they want to reach the playoffs for the third straight season. New York is eight points behind the Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, who are tied for the two wild card berths.

“Means we’ve got a lot of work still to do,” Islanders center and captain John Tavares said. “We’ve had some ups and downs and some frustration to start the year, some results we didn’t get and some things maybe not go our way. Certainly playing a lot better hockey and we know we can still be a lot better.”

Results-wise, it’s hard to fare much better than the Blues (15-7-4) have lately. St. Louis is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games dating back to Nov. 15 to move within three points of the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead both the Central Division and the Western Conference.

Much like the Islanders, the Blues are looking to see if their recent play is sustainable. The game Thursday begins a four-game road trip for St. Louis, which is just 3-6-1 away from Scottrade Center. Six of its final nine games before the Christmas break will be on the road.

“It’s going to be a real test for us,” Blues goalie Jake Allen said. “Obviously, things haven’t gone great for us on the road this year. It’s a great opportunity to keep this thing going we had on our homestand.”

The Blues would like to keep it going without the drama that accompanied the 4-0-1 homestand that concluded Tuesday. Four of the five games went to overtime.

“My biggest fear is we’ve had to put a lot of energy into these games. a lot of overtimes, a lot of 3-on-3 stuff, a lot of anxiety, a lot of close games,” Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We’ll see where our energy is. We’ve got to be really careful with ourselves right now.”

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Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Islanders
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS
PREDICTION: Penguins 3, Islanders 2

NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Penguins will be eager to get back on the ice Wednesday night after a three-day break. The New York Islanders are hoping a spate of three games in four days can revive their flagging season.

A pair of teams at opposite ends of the Eastern Conference will meet Wednesday night, when the Islanders host the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins at Barclays Center. Each club earned a win in its previous game. New York edged the Calgary Flames 2-1 in overtime on Monday while Pittsburgh beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in the shootout on Saturday.

The three-day break is the third such mini-vacation so far this season for the Penguins (13-6-1), who are four points behind the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division and tied for third overall in the conference, four points free of the second wild card.

And three days off are more than enough as far as Penguins star center Sidney Crosby is concerned, even if he knows fresher legs can help later in the season.

“It’s amazing — after two days you feel it, you definitely feel it,” Crosby said following the Penguins’ practice in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. “You’re used to going every day or every other day, at least, especially with the amount of games we’ve played. I think you feel it even more.

“Ultimately I think it was good for us. It’s important and it’s something that hopefully will, down the road, make a big difference for us.”

Down the road looks murky at best for the Islanders (7-10-4), who entered Tuesday tied with the Arizona Coyotes for the fewest points in the NHL. New York is already seven points behind the Devils in the race for the second wild card.

If the Islanders are to begin turning season around, they’ll have to do so against two perennial Eastern Conference powers. After facing the Penguins, New York travels to Washington to face the Capitals on Thursday night.

“Each game is crucial for us — obviously haven’t started the season the way we wanted to,” Islanders center John Tavares said Monday night. “We know Wednesday’s going to be a good test. If you’re going to have success in the playoffs, you’ve got to beat a lot of the top teams.”

Any chance the Islanders have of crawling out of the hole they’ve dug begins with generating more offense. New York has scored three goals or fewer in eight straight games and in 18 of 21 games overall. The Penguins are 8-0-0 when scoring more than three goals.

“We’re going to have to find some offense and that’s the big thing when you play Pittsburgh,” Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. “They can make you look silly, they’ve got a lot of offensive weapons, their power play is dynamic.”

The Islanders may be without defenseman Adam Pelech, who left after the second period Monday night due to an upper body injury. For the Penguins, right winger Patric Hornqvist is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last six games with a concussion.

This is the third of four meetings this season between the Islanders and Penguins. Host Pittsburgh beat New York 4-3 on Oct. 27 before earning a 3-2 overtime win at Barclays Center Nov. 18. The season series is scheduled to conclude in Pittsburgh on March 24.

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Calgary Flames vs. New York Islanders
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, November 28, 2016
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Calgary), MSG Plus (New York)
PREDICTION: Islanders 4, Flames 2

Oddsmakers currently have the Islanders listed as 155-moneyline favorites versus the Flames, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

NEW YORK — The Calgary Flames are staying afloat during a six-game Eastern Conference road trip. They will try to close the trek out in winning style Monday when they face the skidding New York Islanders at Barclays Center.

Both teams are coming off losses. Calgary fell to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 Sunday night, while New York dropped a 3-2 decision to the Sharks in San Jose on Friday. The Islanders return home to open a brief two-game homestand.

The Flames already ensured themselves of at least a .500 trip (3-2-0). They enter play Monday two points behind the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card berth.

“It’s a disappointing loss, but we have back-to-back games and we’ve got to finish this trip off on the right note,” Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said Sunday night. “If we win (Monday), it’s a 4-2 trip, and that’s a good trip.”

The Flames (10-13-1) should have some added motivation after giving up three unanswered goals in the second period Sunday night as the Flyers turned a tie game into a rout.

“I was very disappointed with our guys after the first,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I let them know that and it didn’t get any better in the second. There’s no system for being outworked.”

If there were, perhaps Islanders coach Jack Capuano would feel better about his team’s fortunes. New York, which reached the second round of the playoffs last spring for the first time since 1993, enters Monday with a 6-10-4 record. The Islanders have the fewest wins and points (16) in the NHL.

Eight of the Islanders’ losses were by one goal. New York allowed the go-ahead goal in the final three minutes of the third period five times, including Friday, when the Islanders tied the score with 57.2 seconds remaining, only to give up the winning goal to the Sharks with 22.5 seconds to play.

“It’s just mind-boggling,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “We played one of the best games we’ve played. We came in here against San Jose — Stanley Cup finalists — (and we) dominate the third period. No puck luck right now. There is no explanation.”

Also a fact for the Islanders: They are all but buried in the playoff race already. New York is a whopping nine points behind the New Jersey Devils in the race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The goalie matchup Monday likely will pit the Islanders’ No. 1 netminder, Jaroslav Halak, against Flames backup Brian Elliott.

Halak didn’t play Friday but started eight of the Islanders’ first 10 games in November. He is 8-5-1 in his career against the Flames. He stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn the win the last time the two teams played on Feb. 25, when New York captured a 2-1 victory at Calgary.

Elliott lost his job to the surging Chad Johnson, who took the defeat Sunday to fall to 6-3-0 this month. A start Monday would be just the sixth in November for Elliott, who is 4-1-3 in nine career appearances against the Islanders. He last faced New York while playing for the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 4, 2015, when he stopped 24 of 25 shots but took the loss in the shootout as the Blues fell 2-1.

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Bergevin led the Canadiens to the Northeast Division title and a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in his first season as an NHL general manager. Montreal, 28th last season in the 30-team NHL, was the league’s most improved team before being ousted by No. 7 Ottawa in the postseason’s first round.

Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach and added defenseman Francis Bouillon and forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong to the roster. He also acquired forward Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Murray helped guide Anaheim to its best regular-season finish in franchise history. The Ducks won the Pacific Division and earned the No. 2 seed in the West, but they were eliminated by No. 7 Detroit in a Game 7 loss at home on Sunday night.

Shero made key additions to an already-strong Penguins roster throughout the lockout-shortened year that helped propel the Penguins to their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the East.

He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goalie Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and brought in defenseman Douglas Murray and forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen before the trade deadline.

The Penguins eliminated the New York Islanders in six games in the first round of the playoffs and will face Ottawa in the Eastern Conference semifinal series that will begin Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Voting for the award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals.

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That’s never an issue for Sidney Crosby, who followed the lead of his decidedly less-heralded teammates to establish a bit of order to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round series with the New York Islanders.

Vokoun stopped 31 shots in his first postseason appearance in six years, Kennedy broke a scoreless tie with a sizzling breakaway and Crosby delivered another magical goal in a career stuffed with them. The Penguins beat the Islanders 4-0 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kris Letang and Douglas Murray also scored for Pittsburgh, which finally looked like the team that rolled to the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.

Game 6 is Saturday in New York. Another 60 minutes like the Penguins put together on Thursday and a Game 7 won’t be required.

“They played harder than us,” New York coach Jack Capuano said. “The better team won tonight. They deserved the hockey game.”

One the Penguins desperately needed after the Islanders evened the series 2-2 with a wild 6-4 victory in Game 4 that appeared to have the top seed reeling.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma grew so frustrated watching eighth-seeded New York overwhelm goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury that Bylsma benched the Stanley Cup winner — who had made 79 consecutive playoff starts — in favor of Vokoun, a 36-year-old journeyman who has never made it out of the first round of the postseason in his career.

Vokoun is three periods away now after shutting out the Islanders for the second time this season. Not bad for a guy starting his first playoff game since April 20, 2007, while playing for Nashville.

“I was a little bit nervous the whole day; you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t,” Vokoun said.

It didn’t look like it once the puck dropped. Vokoun didn’t budge when the Islanders dominated the first period, turning aside 14 shots in the first 20 minutes as the Penguins tried to gain their bearings with a new lineup designed to cut down New York’s speed advantage.

Though Bylsma’s biggest change was inserting Vokoun in place of Fleury, he also scratched defenseman Mark Eaton and forwards Jussi Jokinen and Tanner Glass in favor of younger, quicker skaters Simon Despres, Joe Vitale and Kennedy.

The moves paid off handsomely.

Kennedy, squeezed out of the rotation by the influx of veterans brought in at the trade deadline, gave the Penguins the confidence boost they needed 7:25 into the second period.

The play began innocently enough in Pittsburgh’s end before Letang hit Kennedy with a pinpoint 80-foot stretch pass right up the middle of the ice. Kennedy greedily accepted the puck at New York’s blue line, then flipped a wrist shot over Evgeni Nabokov’s glove to give Pittsburgh the lead.

The score seemed to rattle Nabokov. Murray loped in a lazy wrist shot from the point that Nabokov tried to glove only to have the puck slip out of his left hand, over his back and into the net.

There was nothing fluky about Crosby’s third goal of the series, a masterpiece that ranks among the more dazzling plays of his already highlight-heavy career.

The Pittsburgh captain, still wearing a cumbersome mask to protect his broken jaw, took a pass from teammate Jarome Iginla at center ice, then effortlessly split New York defenders Lubomir Visnovsky and Thomas Hickey. Crosby crossed the blue line and poked the puck ahead as the defensemen closed in, lifting his stick before stepping through a pair of flailing poke checks.

Nabokov didn’t have a chance as the wrist shot zipped over the goaltender’s stick to push the lead to 3-0.

There’s a statue outside Consol Energy Center commemorating a similar goal by Hall of Famer and team co-owner Mario Lemieux. The bronze sculpture shows Lemieux slicing through two Islanders defenders in 1988 on his way to the net.

Crosby downplayed any similarities.

“His was much nicer than mine,” Crosby said. “He went through guys and stickhandled through them and stickhandled around the goalie, too. I had a few less moves and a pretty basic shot, but I’ll take the goal anytime it goes in.”

The Islanders never recovered. While they kept Vokoun busy, he was rarely outnumbered as Pittsburgh cut down on the turnovers that led to a seemingly endless flurry of odd-man rushes by the Islanders in Games 2-4.

“We didn’t do a great job of helping Marc out,” Crosby said. “We wanted to make sure we did a better job in front of our goalie.”

When New York did manage to get deep, Vokoun didn’t falter and neither did the guys in front of him as the Penguins were able to develop a consistent rhythm for the first time since a 5-0 romp in Game 1.

Nabokov never located one and found himself on the bench when Letang scored on the power play 5:43 into the third period. Nabokov finished with 23 saves but spent the final 14:17 watching backup Kevin Poulin kept the Penguins off the board. The Islanders will get a chance to regroup at home on Saturday in their bid to win a playoff series for the first time in 20 years.

At least Game 5 is over. New York hasn’t won a Game 5 of any playoff series since 1988.

“For us it’s two Game 7s right now starting on Saturday,” New York defenseman Mark Streit said. “We’ve just got to concentrate on our game, what brought us in this situation and what makes us successful. We know we have it in the room. We’re a confident group.”

Game notes
New York played without D Andrew MacDonald, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. The Islanders also scratched F Marty Reasoner and D Matt Carkner among others … Kennedy’s goal was his sixth winning goal in the postseason, sixth most in Pittsburgh history.

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Or was he just trying to avoid the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins?

“We talked about mostly finishing better than last year,” Alfredsson said after the Senators beat Boston 4-2 in the NHL’s rescheduled regular-season finale on Sunday night to earn the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“We were eighth last year, so to win here the last game and finish seventh it feels really good. We improved on last year, and that’s what we wanted.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:34 to play, and Kyle Turris added an empty-netter to help Ottawa win the game that was originally scheduled for April 15, the day of the Boston Marathon bombings.

It was the only NHL game on Sunday, with the rest of the league wrapping up the regular season by Saturday.

The victory pushed the Senators past the New York Islanders and into seventh in the East, helping them avoid the Penguins in the first round.

Ottawa opens the series in Montreal on Thursday.

“I think it will be a great series,” Alfredsson said. “The Bell Centre is one of the most exciting buildings to play in. It’s a great hockey town as well. … I think it’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere in both arenas, and I’m looking forward to a hard-fought series.”

The Islanders will face Pittsburgh in the first round. The Bruins could have won the Northeast Division and earned a No. 2 seed with a win, but they finished fourth in the East and will play Toronto in the first round starting Wednesday in Boston.

“We wanted to win tonight to clinch the division,” Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. “Now it doesn’t matter. We have to move forward for the playoffs.”

Boston has not faced the Maple Leafs in the postseason since the first round of the 1974 playoffs. It is the only matchup of Original Six teams in the first round.

“You want to get the No. 2 spot, but at the end it doesn’t matter,” said defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who scored just 14 seconds into the third period to tie it 2-all.

“We still have home ice advantage in the first round, and the first round is always the toughest one to get out of. Everything else doesn’t matter now.”

Robin Lehner stopped 34 shots for the Senators, who had not beaten Boston in their previous 14 tries.

Tuukka Rask made 18 saves for Boston, which had won two straight division titles. He was pulled with about a minute left, but the Bruins couldn’t muster any pressure before Turris’ empty-netter with 37 seconds to play.

Pageau also assisted on Erik Condra’s goal that made it 1-0 with 3 minutes left in the first period. Jared Cowen scored midway through the second to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead.

But the Bruins scored twice in 18 seconds of clock time — on Rich Peverley’s goal with 3.4 seconds left in the second period and again on Seidenberg’s goal 14 seconds into the third.

It was still tied when Pageau swept a rebound past Rask to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. The Bruins couldn’t manage any pressure with Rask pulled for the final minute, and Ottawa clinched on Turris’ empty-netter.

Game notes

The Bruins handed out their regular-season awards before the game: Patrice Bergeron was the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award for hustle and determination and the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy for outstanding performance during home games. Gregory Campbell earned the John P. Bucyk Award for off-ice charitable contributions, and the three stars went to Rask (first), Bergeron (second) and Tyler Seguin (third). … The rescheduled game almost had to be bumped back when the Celtics’ 1 p.m. game went into overtime. But the Bull Gang got the basketball floor off the ice in time for the 7 p.m. start. … All four Northeast Division teams to make the playoffs are facing each other. … The Senators have never faced Montreal in the playoffs since joining the NHL in 1992.

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The Islanders clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot despite a 4-3 shootout loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. With the point they received by reaching overtime, coupled with a loss by the Winnipeg Jets at Washington, the Islanders secured a place in the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

“We got the point, and we secured our spot,” defenseman Andrew MacDonald said, “so we couldn’t be happier.”

John Tavares scored the goal that effectively sent them to the postseason, tying it with 1:01 left in regulation.

“We got our game going, and we got contributions from everybody and started to figure out what it takes to win,” Tavares said, reflecting on the season. “And you know we’re happy to be there and give ourselves an opportunity to compete in the playoffs. A lot of us haven’t had that experience.”

Josh Bailey and Brad Boyes also scored, and Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves for the Islanders.

Riley Nash and Jeff Skinner scored in the shootout to give the Hurricanes the victory. Nash’s score came on his first career shootout attempt and only came about because coach Kirk Muller caught him showing off some moves during the morning skate.

“We just winged it, to be honest with you,” Muller said. “He had a couple good moves and, you know what, let’s see if he can do it in the game. … If I didn’t see him do it this morning, we probably wouldn’t have opted to do it.”

Carolina’s Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist, Patrick Dwyer and Alexander Semin added goals, and Dan Ellis made 36 saves before stopping Frans Nielsen and Boyes in the shootout.

Nash and Skinner beat Nabokov with wrist shots in the shootout to help the Hurricanes sweep the soon-to-be division rival Islanders and earn their first consecutive wins since March 9-12.

“We’re starting to find our identity, and that’s important going into next year,” Ellis said. “For us to come up with big games against teams that are going to be in our division next year, it was a great effort. We really started to get our work boots on, play a smarter brand of hockey and we did really well tonight and got a big win.”

In earning a point for the 11th straight game, the Islanders (8-0-3 in April) wiped out three one-goal deficits — and the last came in dramatic fashion.

“It wasn’t our best game, but we found a way to get a big one late and get the point that we needed,” Bailey said.

Tavares made it 3-3 when his shot clicked off Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk’s skate and past Ellis. The goal originally was awarded to Kyle Okposo, but a review determined that he never touched the puck. Okposo finished with two assists.

Before that, the Hurricanes thought their third victory over the Islanders was firmly in hand.

Carolina went up 3-2 with 2:15 left in the second when Dwyer snapped a loose puck past Nabokov — the third in a series of short-lived leads for the Hurricanes.

Staal and Semin also put them up briefly, only to have the Islanders respond with tying goals. Staal made it 2-1 by scoring on a redirection with 3:40 left in the first, and Semin scored the first goal off a pretty give-and-go-feed from Eric Staal.

But Bailey and Boyes each erased those deficits. Bailey’s goal came on a rebound and made it 2-2 at 7:34 of the second. Boyes forged the first tie at 6:04 of the first when Mark Streit’s cross-ice pass clicked off his skate and past Ellis.

Game notes

New York C Keith Aucoin hit the crossbar on a breakaway about 4 1/2 minutes in. Michael Grabner struck the right post with about 3 minutes left in overtime. … Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu drilled the right post against an open net with about 12 1/2 minutes left. … Hurricanes C Jiri Tlusty, who assisted on Staal’s goal, has points in six straight games.

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Pittsburgh, gearing for a run at the Stanley Cup, welcomed star forward Jarome Iginla to the lineup, but lost Sidney Crosby early in the first period after he was hit in the mouth with a puck.

Still, the Penguins managed to overcome the injury to Crosby on Saturday for their 15th straight victory as Matt Cooke and James Neal scored third-period goals during a 2-0 victory against the New York Islanders.

“It’s very tough to see that happen to anybody on the ice, but this is your teammate and Sid’s such a great player,” Iginla said. “It’s a very, very unfortunate play.”

Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves as Pittsburgh moved within two wins of the NHL record of 17 straight victories set by Mario Lemieux and the 1992-93 Penguins.

“The shutout is nice, but preserving the winning streak is even better,” Vokoun said. “It’s been great.”

It might be tough without Crosby.

Coach Dan Bylsma said Crosby lost several teeth and needed oral surgery. He did not know if Crosby would miss additional time and wasn’t sure if the injury affected his jaw.

“I just know he had some issues with his teeth,” Bylsma said. “Just from the replay I know that.”

Crosby, with 15 goals and 56 points, has enjoyed a resurgence this season, leading Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos by 10 points in the NHL scoring race.

Another head injury for Crosby, however, has to concern the Penguins.

Crosby has missed considerable time the past two years because of concussions. He was sidelined the final 41 games in 2011 and the Stanley Cup playoffs, and skipped most of the 2012 regular season as symptoms lingered.

“I think every time that type of thing happens to a player you think about it,” Bylsma said.

Crosby skated off the ice with a towel covering his mouth after a slap shot by teammate Brooks Orpik deflected off a stick and hit the NHL scoring leader in the face. Crosby, who immediately fell to the ice and tossed his stick in the air, did not return.

“When you see the replay, he had no chance to move,” Iginla said. “Guys were definitely checking to see how he was doing.”

Pittsburgh went 15-0-0 in March, the first perfect month in league history. The Penguins also won a franchise-best 12th straight at home.

The Penguins, with a win at home against Buffalo on Tuesday, will have a chance to tie the record of 17 straight wins the following night at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

As it stands, they’re tied with the 1981-82 Islanders for the second longest winning streak in NHL history.

“It’s exciting for our team, exciting for the players,” Neal said. “We want to keep the streak going.”

Iginla, a six-time All-Star, was acquired by the Penguins from Calgary early Thursday and he arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was in the lineup a game earlier than originally anticipated.

The move for Iginla, who waived his no-trade clause to come to Pittsburgh, was the Penguins’ third big deal in a week. Pittsburgh also obtained former Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow and defenseman Doug Murray from San Jose.

The record crowd at Consol Energy Center responded with a huge ovation when Iginla was announced as part of the starting lineup.

Iginla, who played right wing for most of his career in Calgary, skated the left side on a line with reigning NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin and Neal, an All-Star forward.

The excitement quickly turned to concern 1:28 into the game when Crosby left the ice.

Pittsburgh appeared stunned without its captain, and the Islanders took advantage, getting the first eight shots of the game, but came up empty against Vokoun.

Vokoun earned his second consecutive shutout. Vokoun who hasn’t been scored on in more than 162 minutes, relieved injured starter Marc-Andre Fleury during a 1-0 victory Tuesday against Montreal.

Vokoun’s biggest save came in the third period, stopping Islanders speedy forward Michael Grabner on a breakaway.

Cooke scored his sixth goal of the season at 8:10, picking up the rebound from defenseman Deryk Engelland’s shot at the top of the crease, and firing a spinning shot behind Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

“I went to the net and the puck hit me in the stomach,” Cooke said. “I stayed with it, tried to settle it and get it on net.”

Neal scored at 13:04, firing a wrist shot past Nabokov. It was his 18th goal.

The Islanders entered Saturday’s game tied with the New York Rangers for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders, who handed Pittsburgh one of four losses on home ice, ended up losing for the third time during the Penguins’ 15-game winning streak.

“They’ve proven they can play without Crosby or Malkin, so it’s not so much that,” Islanders forward John Tavares said. “It’s more about us and executing and doing what we need to do to win hockey games.”

The Penguins received the biggest boost from their penalty kill.

Chris Kunitz, the team’s second-leading scorer, was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct late in the second period for checking Islanders center Josh Bailey from behind.

Bailey initiated contact, but Kunitz got the better of the play, sending Bailey dangerously into the boards. Bailey did not return.

“I saw the hit, I’m not going to comment on the hit,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “Fortunately (Bailey) is OK, but obviously stiff.”

The major penalty turned into a two-man advantage for the Islanders three minutes later when Orpik was whistled for tripping, but Pittsburgh successfully killed off both penalties.

“We had blocked shots, clears, we won some battles at the net,” Bylsma said. “That’s a long time to kill a 5-on-3 against a really good power play team.”

“Every time we get a big kill, it’s the loudest our crowd has been,” Cooke said. “The crowd was intense and it definitely energized us.”

Game notes

The Penguins have allowed nine goals in their past 11 games. … Paul Martin will have surgery Sunday on a broken bone and will miss six weeks. The Penguins are already without Kris Letang, the NHL’s leading scorer among defenseman, who is out seven to 10 days with a broken toe. … Orpik appeared in his 621st career game, tying Ron Stackhouse for fifth on the team’s games played list and first among defensemen.

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The plan was detailed in an NHL memo sent to all 30 clubs Tuesday, which a team source leaked to ESPN.com.

The new plan calls for divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs as the NHL currently has. The division winner with the most regular-season points will play the lowest-seeded wild-card team in the first round, with the other division winner playing the other wild-card team.

The plan still needs approval from the NHL Players’ Association plus the NHL’s Board of Governors. The NHLPA and NHL have been working on these changes for the past three weeks.

If approved by all parties, the plan would go into effect for next season.

The Eastern Conference would feature the Atlantic and Central divisions while the Western Conference would have the Mid-West and Pacific divisions.

The Pacific Division would feature Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver.

The Mid-West: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg.

The Central: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto.

The Atlantic: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington.

Elliotte Friedman of CBC’s “Hockey Night In Canada” was first to report about these four new groupings over the weekend.

The playoff format as detailed in the league memo Tuesday calls for the top three teams in each division to earn postseason berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild cards, the top two records in each conference. That means there’s a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.

The schedule matrix would see each team play teams in the other conference both home and away.

The NHL’s 30 owners voted yes to a new realignment plan in December 2011 that was based on a four-conference format but also saw Detroit and Columbus still in the West.

The change from the December 2011 configurations sees Detroit and Columbus go to the East plus Colorado join the Mid-West teams.

The NHLPA blocked the December 2011 plan, citing travel concerns for its players plus playoff inequity of having the top four teams in each conference make the playoffs under that format, unfair for the two eight-team conferences.

The changes proposed by the NHL in this realignment format come as a result of those concerns from the NHLPA, the two sides negotiating for the past three weeks on finding a better solution for realignment.

The NHLPA wants to further address it with its players before consenting to it.

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