Thomas Greiss will look for his second straight victory tonight when the Isles take on the Sabres in Buffalo.
Greiss, currently holding down the Islanders’ starting job with Jaroslav Halak out injured, will make his third straight start -- in his first, a 3-1 loss to Toronto, he stopped 35 of 37 shots for a .946 save percentage.
In his second, a 6-3 win over those same Maple Leafs, he stopped 30 of 33 shots for his 10th win of the campaign.
Overall, Greiss has been one of the NHL’s best backups this year, and a savvy offseason signing by New York GM Garth Snow.
The 29-year-old is 10-5-2 with a 2.09 GAA and .932 save percentage, and has given the Isles the kind of high-end backup goaltending the club hasn’t had in quite some time.
For the Sabres, Linus Ullmark will get the start in goal.
Elsewhere...
-- Matt Murray, who’s started four of Pittsburgh’s last five games, will get the night off in Detroit as Jeff Zatkoff goes in goal. The Wings will counter with Petr Mrazek ahead of the struggling Jimmy Howard.
-- Battle of the backups in Carolina: Philipp Grubauer for Washington, Eddie Lack for the ‘Canes.
-- Marquee matchup in St. Louis as Devan Dubnyk and the Wild face Jake Allen and the Blues.
-- Semyon Varlamov will start yet again for the Avs tonight in Colorado. The visiting Blackhawks have yet to name a starter.
-- Antti Niemi, who came on in relief of Kari Lehtonen in Dallas’ ugly loss to Columbus, will start against Nashville. The Preds are expected to go with Pekka Rinne.
-- Karri Ramo starts his eighth straight for Calgary. The Kings look like they’ll be starting Jonathan Quick.
-- After shutting out the Flames in his last start, John Gibson goes again as the Ducks complete their Alberta tour in Edmonton. Cam Talbot starts for the Oilers.
-- Connor Hellebuyck, coming off a 33-save win over the Red Wings, starts for Winnipeg in Arizona. The Coyotes are going with Louis Domingue, who has struggled recently (but so too has their other option, Anders Lindback).