Isles, Jackets both aim to get back on track

NEW YORK -- No playoff contender has scored fewer goals this season than the Columbus Blue Jackets. No team, period, has given up more goals than the New York Islanders.

Something will have to give Saturday night, when the Islanders host the Blue Jackets in a battle of struggling teams at Barclays Center.

Both teams are winless in two games following the All-Star Break. The Islanders lost for the second time in as many nights Wednesday, when they were routed by the host Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-0. The Blue Jackets began a back-to-back set Friday by falling to the visiting San Jose Sharks, 3-1.

The Islanders (25-22-5) have given up a whopping 189 goals, 13 more than the Arizona Coyotes, who have the fewest points in the NHL. New York is on pace to surrender 298 goals, which would be the most allowed by a team since the Philadelphia Flyers gave up 303 goals in the 2006-07 season.

Despite the porous defense, the Islanders are only one point out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference -- the same deficit they faced when the All-Star Break began. Still, New York knows it can't tread water for long by playing as it did against the Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, who cruised to a 4-1 win at Barclays Center on Tuesday.

"Just really unacceptable, the level we're playing at," Islanders captain John Tavares said following the loss to the Maple Leafs. "Not going to win too many hockey games, or really be in it, the way we played the last couple nights."

Head coach John Tortorella is a little more patient with the offensively-challenged Blue Jackets (27-20-4), who were held to three goals or fewer for the 12th straight game Friday.

Columbus, which enters Saturday in sole possession of the first wild card in the East but is just three points ahead of the Islanders, has 134 goals this season, the sixth-fewest in the NHL.

"At times tonight, just through the frustration and maybe the pressure of it building up, that we're just not scoring -- we haven't scored in a while -- it affects the players," Tortorella said following the loss to the Sharks. "I think they're trying the wrong way, hard, for the right reason, if I can say that, if that's the proper way of saying it."

Islanders number one goalie Jaroslav Halak will likely oppose backup Blue Jackets netminder Joonas Korpisalo on Saturday night. Sergei Bobrovsky has started the last four games for Columbus, including Friday's contest, when he recorded 25 saves against the Sharks.

Halak last played Tuesday, when he recorded 36 saves against the Panthers. He has started 15 of the Islanders' last 18 games.

Korpisalo made his most recent appearance Jan 18, when he earned the win after stopping 35 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 shootout victory over the Dallas Stars.

Halak is 12-5-3 in 20 games against the Blue Jackets. Korpisalo is 2-0-1 in four appearances against the Islanders.