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Rangers vs. Islanders: 3 things you need to know

Adam Hunger / USA TODAY Sports

Regular season play resumes on Tuesday following the NHL All-Star break, featuring two of the Eastern Conference's best clubs through the first half of the season.

Amid a significant snowfall along the eastern seaboard, the New York Islanders are set to play host to the New York Rangers in a battle of two Metropolitan Division rivals, both of whom are vying for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Here's what you need you know before the puck drops.

Okposo out

The Islanders learned on Monday that forward Kyle Okposo will be out of the lineup for six-to-eight weeks with an upper-body injury.

Okposo recorded five goals and two assists in three games prior to the break, including a four-goal game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He ranks second on the team in total points with 44, only one behind captain John Tavares.

Head coach Jack Capuano certainly wasn't downplaying the injury on Monday.

"I had an idea before the break here, but it definitely comes as a shock," he told the team's official website. "You have to deal with injuries throughout the year and unfortunately this is a tough one for us. It’s just disappointing because that line was playing so well. We’ll analyze it and figure out who is going to play there."

Nash's quest for 50 continues

Rick Nash enters Tuesday's contest in a tie for the league-lead in goals, with 28. Having reached that total in 44 games, he's on pace to smash his career high of 41 - set as a second-year player back in 2003-04, when he split the Maurice Richard Trophy with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk.

If he remains healthy, Nash could push for 50 goals for the first time in his career, attempting to stave off Tyler Seguin for the goal-scoring crown. A big game against Jaroslav Halak and the Islanders could go a long way towards that end.

Lundqvist vs. Halak

Speaking of Halak - he'll be matched up against Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers net. Here's a look at how the two goalies have fared so far this season:

Henrik Lundqvist Stat Jaroslav Halak
35 Games Played 34
987 Shots against 914
78 Goals allowed 82
0.921 Save percentage 0.91
5 Shutouts 4
23-9-3 Record 25-9-0

While Lundqvist has the edge in terms of overall performance, Halak owns a 2-0-0 record against the Rangers, including a 3-0 shutout on Jan. 13 - a game in which he made 27 saves.

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