Islanders vs Penguins Preview: Isles Look to Keep the Streak Alive in PIT

Tonight the New York Islanders kick off a two-game series in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. Puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. eastern time and the teams will square off again on Saturday night.

The Islanders are coming into Pittsburgh after playing the Sabres on both Monday and Tuesday nights in Buffalo. The blue and orange won both games in convincing fashion, 3-1 and 3-0.

On the other hand, the Penguins have been inconsistent as of late. On Tuesday they lost 3-1 to the Capitals at home and they have a 2-3-0 record in their last five games.

The New York Islanders look to keep their impressive streak alive tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Islanders are considered one of the most in-form teams in the NHL. They are on an eight-game point streak and a three-game winning streak. In the past three contests, the Isles have outscored their opponents 10-3.

There is a great opportunity over the next two games for the Isles to separate themselves from the Penguins in the standings. These points could become extremely crucial down the stretch for a playoff spot.

Tale of the Tape

Odds

The Islanders come into today as the underdogs, courtesy of the Action network.

Considering the run of form the Islanders are currently on, it is extremely surprising that they are listed as the underdogs.

So far this season the Isles and Pens have played two games against each other and each one was decided by one goal. The Isles do provide a nice play as the underdogs, but I expect another close game between these two rivals.

Projected Lineups

The Islanders have not made any major alterations to their lineup during this streak and it is projected the Isles lineup will stay the same as Tuesday.

Anthony Beauvillier is back and healthy and replaced Leo Komarov in Buffalo and with no apparent injuries during that contest, the Islanders’ forward lines are projected to remain intact.

Throughout the Islanders’ first 15 games of this season, they have yet to make any changes on defense and tonight should be no different.

Semyon Varlamov is projected to get the start tonight after Ilya Sorokin played absolutely outstanding and got his first NHL win on Tuesday.

The Islanders are projected to lineup like this:

Lee-Barzal-Bailey
Dal Colle-Nelson-Eberle
Beauvillier-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Pelech-Pulock
Leddy-Mayfield
Dobson-Greene

Varlamov (Sorokin)

The Penguins have kept a pretty consistent lineup this year and they are not expected to make any major changes coming into tonight.

Pittsburgh still has some important players on the injured reserve, who will be unavailable tonight including Jared McCann, Brian Dumoulin, and Evan Rodrigues.

There is a chance we could see the Penguins make one change on defense with Yannick Weber replacing Cody Ceci on their third defensive pairing, but there is also similarly a good chance that they will keep the same pairings as they did on Tuesday against Washington.

Casey DeSmith is expected to start in goal for the Pens. Tristian Jarry has started the last two games for the Penguins and DeSmith was victorious in his last start against the Islanders.

The Penguins are expected to lineup like this:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen
Aston Reese- Blueger-Tanev
Sceviour-Jankowski-Lafferty

Joseph-Letang
Matheson-Marino
Pettersson-Ceci

DeSmith (Jarry)

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!

Where to Catch the Game

TV: MSG+, ATTSN-PT, NHLN

Radio: 88.7FM 103.9FM 1050AM

*All Stats Provided by the NHL*