The New York Islanders host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Barclays Center.

According to STATS:

• The Hurricanes have won their first two games against the Islanders this season, including an overtime win in Brooklyn during the last meeting. The last time Carolina had three wins in a season against New York was 2013-14.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New Jersey Devils are feeling relatively good about how they're playing, while the Carolina Hurricanes are dealing with the afterglow of a feel-good story.

The Metropolitan Division rivals meet Tuesday night at PNC Arena.

The Devils bring a stretch of two victories in three games into the tilt after defeating the visiting Boston Bruins 3-0 on Monday night. The team is still trying to make up from a miserable stretch earlier in the season.

The New Jersey Devils have shown the ability to respond from some not-so-solid performances and that mindset could go a long way in helping the team navigate through the season.

The Carolina Hurricanes haven't been quite so in tune with dodging rough patches during the first few weeks of the season.

But Tuesday night at New Jersey, the Hurricanes aim to get on track because they've gone four games without winning in regulation.

Mike Cammalleri recorded a hat trick to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday at PNC Arena.

First Period

• 8:31 NYR Mats Zuccarello (Power Play); Assists: Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich
• 12:34 CAR Jeff Skinner; Assists: Noah Hanifin, Victor Rask

Second Period 

• 0:33 CAR Jeff Skinner; Assists: Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin
• 12:17 NYR Mats Zuccarello; Assists: Ryan McDonagh, Henrik Lundqvist
• 19:59 CAR Bryan Bickell (Power Play); Assists: Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask

Three Stars

It's been a little while since the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders won consecutive games, but it's probably only a requirement for one to make the playoffs.

It'll in fact take quite a bit more for Carolina to climb the Eastern Conference ladder, and that near-desperate attempt continues Tuesday night in Brooklyn as the clubs meet for the second time in four days.

While the Islanders (40-25-9) are trying to catch Pittsburgh for third in the Metropolitan Division, entering this contest three points back with a game in hand, the Hurricanes (33-28-15) have more work to do to track down a wild-card spot.

Victor Rask had the first multigoal game of his career, scoring twice as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Sunday.

Rask, who has scored in three straight games, ended the Hurricanes' skid of six consecutive games without a power-play goal when he connected in the second period to give him 20 this season.

Ron Hainsey scored the other Carolina goal, and Cam Ward made 23 saves.

(AP) -- J.T. Miller scored twice in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

Ryan McDonagh scored to stretch his scoring streak to four games, and Keith Yandle also had a goal for New York.

Joakim Nordstrom scored for Carolina, and Eddie Lack made 28 saves.

The 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes is one the Islanders want to quickly forget considering the lackluster performance they put on in front of a sold out Nassau Coliseum. The Isles ?allowed 41 shots on net through three periods, while only registering 24, and the Hurricanes led in shots attempted 70-46.

The Islanders, who are now preparing for a four game road trip, played sluggishly and allowed the Hurricanes to out work them for most of the 60-minute affair.

The Islanders defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 in the second of a home and home with Carolina, and the final home opener in Nassau Coliseum history. The win was helping meaning in two distinct ways. One being the Islanders getting a win on a night when was so important to the fans and the other being that they began to establish a winning culture at home.

Home victories were hard to come by last season for the Isles, so to get one early is a step in the right direction.

at

Nassau Coliseum -- Uniondale, NY

TV: MSG Plus Radio: WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9 FM

at

PNC Arena -- Raleigh, NC

TV: MSG Plus Radio: WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9 FM

at

Nassau Coliseum -- Uniondale, NY

TV: Islanders TV Radio: 88.7

[sny-box]

- The Devils had an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Mark Fayne, by the Hurricanes stormed back in the second period on goals by Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal.

New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 7:00 pm

Prudential Center - Newark, New Jersey

TV:?MSG+ ?Radio:?WCBS 880-AM

With the season upon us, it's time to see how the Devils stack up with the rest of the Metropolitan Division. With plenty of talent across the board, the Metro division should be one of the most competitive in the league.

Dave's Picks:?

On April 28...

2001- After losing game one, the Devils blow a 5-1 third-period lead in game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Randy McKay's goal at 5:30 of the first overtime lifts New Jersey to a 6-5 win over the Leafs, evening their best-of-seven series at 1.

On April 24...

2003- Martin Brodeur records a playoff shutout, and Jamie Langenbrunner registers a goal and an assist in New Jersey's win over the Tampa Bay Lighting in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Unfortunately for them and their fans, that's the only help they got.

New Jersey remains six back of eighth place now with only five games remaining. The Devils' 3-0 win in Philadelphia kept them alive in the playoff hunt with five games left but did them no other good.

The Leafs' 4-3 regulation win over the Rangers at Air Canada Centre kept New Jersey within two points of both seventh and eighth in the East with only 18 regular-season days remaining.

With New Jersey idle again tonight, the team and fans can root for the Flyers and Lightning. Philadelphia, still clinging to faint-playoff life, will be on Long Island for a date with the Isles. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, will try to deal the reeling Senators their fifth-straight loss.

Why is tonight so big, you ask?

The trade deadline is behind us, and with only 11-13 games left, there are seven teams within five points of the East's Nos. 7 and 8 seeds.

When you consider that five of those seven are in action tonight-- plus the Southeast Division-leading Jets-- it makes for a huge night on the ice.

Thanks to tiebreakers, the Devils are still in the No. 7 spot, but the Islanders and Rangers are catching up fast.

The Caps, keyed by Alexander Ovechkin's three-point game, crept to within three points of the eighth spot, and are only two points back of No. 3 Winnipeg for the Southeast Division lead.

New Jersey dropped its fourth straight Monday night, 3-1, to the ninth-placed Islanders. Meanwhile, across the river, the Rangers polished off the Jets 4-2.

Both results moved the New York squads within two points of seventh place. New Jersey, which hasn't been outside the top-eight all season, could be by the week's end.

You might be asking why we removed the top six from today's equation.

The Devils are just sitting there in seventh place. They're five points behind the tied-Ontario teams for fifth place; they're four points better than the two deadlocked-New York squads.

With the Devils' 5-4 shootout loss to Tampa Bay, there are now seven teams within four points of eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

It makes for a thrilling final three-and-a-half weeks left of this season.

With 15 games left, the Devils are only two points ahead of the Eastern Conference's No. 9 team.

But New Jersey can boost that advantage with some games it should win. The Devils will play back-to-back games in the Sunshine State, starting tonight with an affair with the lowly Lightning.

The Islanders' huge 3-2 win in Washington, coupled with Winnipeg's 4-1 win in Raleigh boosted the Isles within two points of the arch-rival Rangers.

The Rangers meanwhile won a rather large game of their own, downing Philadelphia 5-2. The Rangers sit just two points back of the Devils with one game in hand.

You think it's a great accomplishment? Ok, it IS a great accomplishment for any netminder to be credited with a goal.

Here are five other great goals by goalies.

It was almost a storybook return, but history turned out to be too good to be true for Martin Brodeur. Still, after weathering a hectic first 10 minutes, the Devils responded with an excellent overall effort and have ended their most recent losing streak in impressive fashion. Some thoughts...

Marty: It may not have been history, but it was an excellent return for Brodeur, who single-handedly kept the Devils in the game long enough for them to find their sea legs. Brodeur's performance during the first 10 minutes of the first period was the shining example of what we wrote earlier this week. While Johan Hedberg was good enough, he wasn't Brodeur. He didn't have that extra level. Moose was likely to be beaten on the fifth shot of a rapid-fire barrage. Brodeur, on the other hand, was calm, cool, collected and his usual reliable self. Of course, he was blatantly exhausted at the end of that stretch, but thankfully the rest of the team took over from there, shutting the Hurricanes down so well even Drake would've been impressed. But it wasn't just those saves -- or his goal (yes, his goal) -- that stood out for me. It was all the little things that Brodeur does that make him such an excellent netminder even at the age of 40. One of those examples came during the first period when there was a turnover and Alexander Semin came rushing up the gut toward the puck. Moose might've dove at the puck and he might have disrupted Semin enough to be successful. It's a risky proposition we've seen Hedberg both win and lose this season. Instead, Brodeur stayed calm, stayed upright and came out just far enough that he forced Semin to shoot at one of several tiny windows. Semin, of course, nearly scored, rocketing a shot off the post just over Brodeur's shoulder, but that's a nearly impossible shot to make and it's the only one Brodeur gave him. Marty also made at least two or three excellent decision with the puck on his stick, deftly moving the play away from the net and helping the Devils get out of the zone. Brodeur's return will likely be remembered for his incredibly bizarre goal and those frantic first minutes, but it was the things that went unnoticed, things not seen in the box score that impressed me the most.

Who: New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes

When: 7:00 p.m. ET; Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. ET

Three Stanley Cups, four Vezina Trophies, five Jennings Trophies, plus a slew of awards and accomplishments have helped cement Martin Brodeur as one of the NHL's all-time greatest goaltenders.

But four years ago today, Brodeur staked a claim to No. 1.

When you're guilty of multiple defensive breakdowns in the first period and no-show the entire second, it's highly unlikely that any sense of urgency in the third is going to save you. That was pretty much the story for the Devils as they went back into the losing side of the ledger Saturday. Some thoughts...

What are you waiting for: Remember when bad starts were the problem? Well, that's not exactly the case now -- the Devils' starts have actually been OK, but they haven't shown any urgency over the past three games until their backs are up against the wall in the third period. Thursday night the Devils did just enough to force OT, but tonight and the time before came up short. And it's not even just about the offensive side of their game. The Devils basically allowed the Hurricanes to walk into their zone time after time and showed absolutely no fight in clearing the crease. Two of the goals tonight were the direct result of Devils defenders allowing a Hurricane forward to stand right in front of Johan Hedberg and play the puck. That's simply unacceptable and has to change, because it doesn't look like the Devils are going to be able to score more than two or three goals on a regular basis. I'm starting to worry this is more than just a bad habit. I'm starting to worry this "is what it is." The defense is slow and sloppy, the offense is pressing and gripping their sticks too tight and Pete DeBoer showed at least four different versions of the "You gotta be kidding me" face tonight. I can only imagine what he said to them between the second and the third period that had them jumping out of their skates to start the period, but it's probably not along the lines of "Good job, good effort." Will things change tomorrow night against Winnipeg? Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath.

Who:? New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes

When: 7:00 p.m. ET; Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. ET

Pete DeBoer told the press corps on Friday that?Tallinder will not trek to Raleigh?with the Devils?for the Devils' game with the Hurricanes on Saturday. Tallinder injured himself during warmups Thursday night.

https://twitter.com/Ledger_NJDevils/status/310091310096850947

That's a frustrating way for the win streak to come to an end, but not all that surprising in hindsight. The Devils have no-showed the first period a few games in a row now and it was only a matter of time before they got burnt for it. Some thoughts...

Swing period: While the slow first period wasn't ideal, it's something the Devils have survived the past few games. The difference tonight was the second period. Each of the last few games, the Devils have come out on fire to start the second stanza, but tonight was the complete opposite. The Devils were manhandled from the drop of the puck in the second and if not for Marty Brodeur, they would have been down much worse than 2-1. As I wrote on Twitter, the Canes' 20-14 shots advantage after two periods was deceptive in that it was not that close. It's one thing to start slow, but to get a break and a chance to regroup and come out worse off is unacceptable. In today's NHL, it's hard enough to survive one bad period, let alone two. There were multiple culprits, starting with the fact that the Canes beat the Devils at their own game. They aggressively pushed the play up ice, forced a lot of turnovers and forechecked like mad. Carolina was all over Jersey's zone for much of the first two periods. There also was a defined lack of energy from the Devils, which Pete DeBoer tried to counteract by switching up the forward lines at the end of the first period and for long stretches in the second. You got the sense that DeBoer knew he needed to find a way to spark his team early on, but unfortunately for the Devils, DeBoer didn't find that spark until sometime during the second intermission.

Who: Carolina Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils

When: 7:00 p.m. ET; Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. ET

First Period- Sutter (7)

Second Period- Ruutu (13) and Stewart (5)