Toronto Maple Leafs (45-26-7 Nashville Predators Hats Authentic , third in the Atlantic Division) vs. New York Islanders (46-26-7, second in the Metropolitan Division)Uniondale, New York; Monday, 7 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: The New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs hit the ice at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. New York is fourth in the conference and Toronto is fifth in conference play.The Islanders are 24-12-4 at home. New York is last in the Eastern Conference shooting 28.8 shots per game.The Maple Leafs are 22-12-5 on the road. Toronto ranks sixth in the Eastern Conference shooting 10.7 percent and averaging 3.6 goals on 33.3 shots per game. In their last meeting on Feb. 28, New York won 6-1. Brock Nelson recorded a team-high 2 points for the Islanders in the victory.TOP PERFORMERS: Anders Lee leads the Islanders with a plus-21 in 79 games played this season. Nelson has totaled three goals and four assists over the last 10 games for New York.LAST 10 GAMES: Maple Leafs: 3-5-2, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.4 assists, 2.3 penalties and 5.4 penalty minutes while giving up 4.1 goals per game with a .874 save percentage.Islanders: 6-4-0 Custom Nashville Predators Jerseys , averaging 2.2 goals, 3.8 assists, 2.9 penalties and 7.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .925 save percentage.Islanders Injuries: Tanner Fritz: out (upper body), Andrew Ladd: out for season (torn acl), Valtteri Filppula: out (upper body).Maple Leafs Injuries: Jake Gardiner: day to day (undisclosed). NEW YORK — Slow starts have been an issue this season for Calgary. The challenge for the Flames may be exacerbated Sunday at Madison Square Garden when they visit the New York Rangers in the opening game of a two-game Eastern Conference road trip.Both teams lost their most recent games. The Rangers fell to the host Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday. The Flames dropped a 5-3 decision to the visiting Nashville Predators on Friday.Now the Flames (4-3-0) will look to get off to a faster start after traveling cross-country. Calgary, which will play the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, has been outscored 9-7 in the first period this season. On Friday, the Predators scored 51 seconds into the first period and never trailed.Article continues below ...“We talked about our starts after the Boston game www.officialdevils.com ,” left winger Matthew Tkachuk told the Flames’ website Friday, in reference to a 5-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday in which Calgary led 3-0 after the first.“And today, first minute, what happens? They score. We kept battling back, but you can’t continue to play uphill.”This season is likely to be an uphill battle for the Rangers (2-4-1), who embarked upon a rebuilding project at the trade deadline in February. But New York has shown promise under rookie coach David Quinn, who has presided over four losses by two goals or fewer. The loss to the Capitals on Wednesday capped a productive two-day stretch against contenders for the Rangers, who beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Tuesday night.“That’s big New Jersey Devils T-Shirts Authentic , coming away with a point — three out of four,” left winger Chris Kreider told reporters afterward. “Obviously, we’d like to have four out of four, but three out of four’s pretty good, considering the travel and the strength of the opponents that we played. So it’s something we can hang out hat on. But I think we can get to the point where we’re getting all four points.”Two 36-year-old No. 1 netminders are likely to oppose each other Sunday night. With three days off, the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist is scheduled to start for the seventh time in eight games. Lundqvist took the loss Wednesday when he had 34 saves against the Capitals.Mike Smith, who has started the previous two games for the Flames and six of seven this season, should occupy the net Sunday. Smith absorbed the loss Friday New Jersey Devils Hoodies Authentic , when he stopped 26 of 30 shots against the Predators.Lundqvist is 8-3-0 in 11 career games against the Flames. Smith is 5-12-2 in 20 career appearances against the Rangers. For the Rangers, defenseman Freddie Claesson is likely to miss Sunday’s game after suffering an upper-body injury during practice Saturday.Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic, who suffered a facial fracture while fighting with Vancouver Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson in the season opener Oct. 3, is skating with teammates but will miss his seventh straight game.