Islanders vs. Penguins preview: Betting odds, lines, TV and more

The New York Islanders head to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins in the second leg of a four-game road trip. The Isles are 2-0-0 in that trip with wins over the Flyers and Bruins but now face a tricky Penguins side.

On the year, the Islanders are 2-2-2 against the Pens. Sidney Crosby’s side just seems to have the Isles number this year. And while the Penguins might be dealing with a number of injuries they haven’t slowed down a bit.

Ove their last ten games, the Pens hold a 7-2-1 record while Malkin, Tanev, Kapanen, Blueger, RIikola, and Czuczman are out of the lineup.

The New York Islanders hope to continue winning road-trip

The Isles haven’t been nearly as strong on the road (9-7-2) as they have been at home (13-1-2). But after taking heavy criticism for beating up on lower-tier opponents in the division, they’ve beaten both the Flyers and Bruins on the road. Doing the same against the Penguins would cement their status as the team to beat in the Eastern Division.

Tale of the Tape

Odds

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

At the time of writing the Isle are -110 to win tonight. The Penguins line is -105. I just finished writing that a win against the Pens would “cement their status as the team to beat” in the East. Clearly, oddsmakers already think that.

Giving the Isles, even a slight advantage here is a nod to strength this year. Sure, the Penguins have injuries but they’re playing well and are a good home team (14-3-1).

Projected Lineups

No Michael Dal Colle today. The Islanders indicated that he’ll be out of the lineup for the next two games. You’d have to think that means Kieffer Bellows will get another opportunity to prove himself.

I’d imagine that means Leo will drop down to the more defensively minded second line and that Bellows will make the jump up to the top line again. But we’ll see what Trotz has in store come puck drop.

Bellows-Barzal-Eberle
Komarov-Nelson-Bailey
Beauvillier-Pageau-Wahlstrom
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Pelech-Pulock
Leddy-Mayfield
Greene-Hickey

Varlamov (Sorokin)

Plenty of injuries with the Penguins lineup mean there are a bunch of unfamiliar names in the lineup:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Aston-Reese-McCann-Rodrigues
Sceviour-Jankowski*-Lafferty
Zohorna-Gaudreau-Angello

Dumoulin-Letang
Matheson-Ceci
Pettersson-Marino

Jarry (DeSmith)

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Where to Catch the Game

TV: MSG+2, MSG GO APP, NESN, NHLNetwork
Radio: 88.7FM 103.9FM
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*