Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders Meet Again

One week ago the Penguins and Islanders duked it out in Brooklyn. The Islanders took that game 2-1, and now the Pens are looking for vengeance.

Tonight the New York Islanders visit the Pittsburgh Penguins, bringing a four point lead into the Steel City. The Islanders sit in the third and final divisional playoff spot with 84 points; the Penguins are the first wildcard team with 80.

The Pens’ schedule is chock-full of Metropolitan Division matchups. They have a two-game win streak right now, following (surprising) regulation wins against the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. A regulation win against the Islanders tonight would put them that much closer to catching up.

John Tavares‘s team is coming off a comeback win against the Florida Panthers last night. Down 2-0 going into the third period, the Islanders came back and managed to steal the game, 3-2, thanks to a last-minute goal from Cal Clutterbuck. It’s an impressive win, but back-to-backs are exhausting, especially when you have to travel in the middle.

Hopefully the Pens can use that to their advantage. They showed just how physical they could be in the game against the Rangers, and if they can grind down the Islanders they will have a much better chance to win.

Former Penguin Thomas Greiss started in net against the Panthers, as starting goalie Jaroslav Halak is out with an injury – one that he sustained in the last game against the Penguins, in fact. Greiss may get the nod again tonight, given that their backup is the largely untested rookie Jean-Francois Berube.

Either way, the Penguins are looking at facing weariness or inexperience in the opposing net. They’ve had offensive explosions this season against far better goalies, and if they can pull that off again tonight it’s a major boost.

The Pens have had a hard time stringing more than one win together recently, but they’re on a win streak right now. Again, it’s only two games, but that’s a kind of momentum they haven’t had in a long time.

In these two teams’ last matchup, Evgeni Malkin was a force to be reckoned with, battling grinder Travis Hamonic. Malkin is out of the lineup for the rest of the season, so other players will have to step up. Luckily, that didn’t seem to be too hard against the Rangers.

Conor Sheary put two past Henrik Lundqvist in his first NHL multi-goal game, and look for him to be a major presence in this game as he rides that wave of confidence. Scott Wilson, Bryan Rust, and Tom Kuhnhackl were all re-signed to two year, one-way contracts just yesterday, and if they play with a spring in their step the Penguins’ speed will be terrifying.

Wilson was hurt in the same game as Malkin, several days ago in Columbus. He didn’t play against the Rangers and is not projected to be in the lineup tonight. Meanwhile, Beau Bennett still looks to be the odd forward out.

As always, Sidney Crosby will be one to watch. He notched an assist on the Penguins’ one goal in the last game against the Islanders, and has 9 goals and 17 assists in his last sixteen games against the Brooklyn boys. Without Malkin, Crosby knows he has to step up even more.