Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders 11/5/2024

The Penguins begin this week’s Metro division road trip with a trip to Long Island.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (5-7-1, 11 points) @ New York Islanders (4-6-2, 10 points)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, MSG SportsNet, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The week inside the Metropolitan Division continues with a back-to-back set of game games, starting against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Pens then reunite with Alex Ovechkin, who is on pace to beat Wayne Gretzky’s goalscoring record with his hot start to the season, during a trip to Washington D.C. on Friday.

Opponent Track: The injured Islanders have slumped into the month of November with losses wins in their last five games. Most recently the Isles were outplayed in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Season Series: These two teams meet again for a back-to-back in New York on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, following by one last matchup in Pittsburgh on March 18. Last season the Pens earned points in first three games of the season series before dropping the season finale to the Isles in regulation.

Hidden Stat: The Islanders are one of four NHL teams (alongside the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators) who not yet scored 30 total goals this season.

Getting to know the Islanders

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Anders Lee – Bo Horvat – Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Maxim Tsyplakov – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri

Pierre Engvall – Casey Cizikas – Simon Holmstrom

Hudson Fasching – Kyle MacLean – Oliver Wahlstrom

DEFENSEMEN

Alexander Romanov (?) – Noah Dobson

Ryan Pulock – Scott Mayfield

Dennis Cholowski – Grant Hutton

Goalies: Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov

Potential injury: Mike Reilly

IR: Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech, Anthony Duclair

• The Isles have been hit by the injury bug early this season, with last year’s points leader in Mathew Barzal, first-line winger Anthony Duclair and top-four defenseman Adam Pelech out long-term. To make things worse, veteran defenseman Mike Reilly appeared to be a concerning head injury on Friday.
• Defender Samuel Bolduc committed a turnover during Sunday’s loss to the Rangers that got him benched from the rest of the game and criticized by head coach Patrick Roy after the loss. Bolduc was then reassigned to the AHL on Monday.
• The Bolduc moves indicates that Alexander Romanov, who was sidelined for Sunday’s loss to the Rangers and missed three of the Isles’ last four games with an upper body injury, could return against the Penguins.
• Both Romanov and Reilly are considered day-to-day, Roy said on Monday.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• The Isles’ shorthanded special teams struggled on Sunday as the team allowed both a power-play goal and short-handed goal against in the 5-2 loss.

• The Islanders got four goals from their top two lines in the team’s last win, a Friday victory over the Buffalo Sabres. This team could use similar production from players like Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau tonight as they look to overcome the injuries to their usual first line.
• Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have previously functioned as a goaltending tandem for the Islanders, but Varlamov has struggled with a 0.876 save percentage through the early stretch of the season. Sorokin has started two games in the last four days, so the Isles could be planning to go back to Varlamov and help him look for his second win of the season tonight.

And now for the Pens

Infographic courtesy of Pittsburgh Penguins PR

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Evgeni Malkin – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

Drew O’Connor – Lars Eller – Cody Glass

Michael Bunting – Noel Acciari – Jesse Puljujarvi

Kevin Hayes – Blake Lizotte – Anthony Beauvillier

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Joel Blomqvist

Potential Scratches: Ryan Shea, Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen

IR: Matt Nieto (knee surgery), Bryan Rust (week-to-week lower body injury)

• Glass was back on the wing, while Puljujarvi was back in the lineup, on Monday. Puljujarvi is looking to crack the Penguins roster for the first time since he skated fewer than five minutes in last Tuesday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild.
• Nieto and Rust will both travel with the Penguins on this road trip to New York, North Carolina and Washington D.C., per Mike Sullivan.
• The Pens sent Tristan Jarry to the AHL on a 14-day conditioning loan which is set to expire on Saturday. Another goaltending decision could be coming by the end of the week.

“We’re certainly encouraged by that. We know he’s a high-quality goaltender. He’s working at it and he’s playing extremely well, which is encouraging.” —Mike Sullivan on Jarry’s conditioning, h/t DK Pittsburgh Sports)

• Milestone watch: Sidney Crosby is three goals away from No. 600. The feat will make him the seventh NHL player to score 600 with a single franchise, joining Alex Ovechkin, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Bobby Hull and the Penguins’ own Mario Lemieux.