Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders 12/28/2024

The Penguins begin a home-and-home set against the slumping Islanders tonight in Long Island.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (16-15-5, 37 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division) @ New York Islanders (13-15-7, 33 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh and MSG Sportsnet for the local markets, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens return home to take on the Islanders on Sunday night, then hit the road again for a New Year’s Eve road game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Opponent Track: The Islanders have sunk to the bottom of the Metro with three losses in four games, most recently suffering a 7-1 blowout to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

Season Series: The Pens lost 4-3 to the Islanders on Nov. 5 after Ilya Sorokin made a game-winning save on Kris Letang to end a shootout at UBS Arena. These two teams will have to wait until March 18 to close out the season series in Pittsburgh.

Hidden Stat: The Islanders have marked seven overtime losses through 35 games, tying three other teams for the most in the NHL.

Hidden Stat II: Before the Sabres put up a seven-spot on Monday, the last team to score seven times against the Islanders was the Pens (a 7-0 victory on Dec. 27 last year.)

Getting to know the Islanders

Projected lines (from Friday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Maxim Tsyplakov – Bo Horvat – Simon Holmstrom

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Anthony Duclair – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri

Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Hudson Fasching

DEFENSEMEN

Alexander Romanov – Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock

Isaiah George – Scott Mayfield

Goalies: Ilya Sorokin, Marcus Hoberg

Potential Scratches: Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

IR: Mike Reilly, Semyon Varlamov

• Varlamov, who has not played since Nov. 29, is currently on the IR with a lower body injury. Marcus Hoberg has yet to start in his place.
• Mike Reilly is out indefinitely after undergoing a heart procedure in November.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Anders Lee has been held without a goal for four straight games following a strong start to the season.
• With backup Semyon Varlamov injured, the Isles will either ice Sorokin for two straight starts or turn to third-stringer Hogberg for half of this weekend’s home-and-home set. Hogberg, who was not started in NHL action since 2021, has appeared twice in relief during blowout losses this season.
• It’s been a rough season start for Isles center Mat Barzal.

Not-so-special teams

The Islands have been historically poor on both the penalty kill (64.4 percent) and power play (12 percent) through the first 35 games on the season.

Through a full season that PK rate would rank as the least successful unit in NHL history, while that power play percentage makes the Isles just about as successful on the man advantage as the defending champs are shorthanded.

Struggles on the island

The Sabres had lost 13 games straight and had gone a full month without a victory heading into Monday night’s matchup with the Islanders.

The Islanders responded by falling into a 5-1 deficit by the third period. Head coach Patrick Roy pulled Ilya Sorokin with more 12 minutes left, but the Isles’ inability to capitalize on the man advantage continue as they struggled to find momentum at 6v5.

Bo Horvat said after the game that the Islanders “should be embarrassed” (h/t NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner.)

“In front of our fans, to do that, in front of our goaltender who’s bailed us out a lot over his career…Just an unacceptable effort by us tonight,” Horvat said.

Roy went on to promise fans at Friday’s open practice that the Isles would work to improve going forward.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines (from Friday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting – Evgeni Malkin – Drew O’Connor

Anthony Beauvillier – Cody Glass – Philip Tomasino

Matt Nieto – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari or Jesse Puljujarvi

DEFENSEMEN

P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Noel Acciari or Jesse Puljujarvi, Kevin Hayes

IR: Marcus Pettersson, Owen Pickering

• Mixed injury news from the Pens on Friday: Marcus Pettersson rejoined practice (in a no-contact jersey) for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury during the Dec. 14 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. Owen Pickering remains sidelined with a concussion.

• Could Puljujarvi get another shot at the Pens lineup? He was swapping out with Noel Acciari on the fourth-line wing during Friday’s practice, per Michelle Crechiolo. If he returns to the lineup tonight it would mark his first appearance for the Pens since skating 11 minutes in a Dec. 7 win over the Maple Leafs.