Wild-N.Y. Islanders game preview

7 p.m. vs. N.Y. Islanders • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 100.3-FM

Preview: The Islanders lead the NHL with 19 victories. The Wild, which departs for a three-game road trip Wednesday, is 7-3-1 in its past 11 but has fallen to 10th in the West during a 1-1-1 homestand. The Islanders had won three straight before blowing a 3-0 lead at home against St. Louis on Saturday.

Players to watch: John Tavares and ex-Gopher Kyle Okposo lead the Islanders with 24 points each and Warroad native Brock Nelson leads with 12 goals. Wild 2009 first-round pick D Nick Leddy has 13 points and leads the Isles with a plus-10. Former Wild RW Cal Clutterbuck is second on the team with 110 hits. Wild LW Nino Niederreiter, a former Islander, leads with 11 goals. RW Jason Pominville has a four-game point streak. F Thomas Vanek, a former Islander, is expected to skate on the top line with Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund. He has no 5-on-5 goals this season. G Niklas Backstrom, 3-2-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average, will start.

Numbers: The Wild has killed off 15 straight power plays in the past six games and ranks second in the NHL at 89.5 percent. The Islanders have the worst penalty kill in the NHL (72.5 percent). … The Islanders rank eighth in the NHL at 3.00 goals per game, the Wild 12th at 2.8.

Injuries: Wild C/RW Charlie Coyle (sick) is questionable. LW Matt Cooke (hip flexor) is out. Islanders D Johnny Boychuk (upper body), D Lubomir Visnovsky (upper), D Travis Hamonic (upper), C Casey Cizikas (upper), D Matt Carkner (back) and LW Eric Boulton (lower body) are out.

MICHAEL RUSSO