The Metro division is as tight as ever as the Islanders head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins. The Islanders are a point ahead of the Pens for the first Wild Card with two games in hand. The Isles are two points behind the Devils for first place and two points ahead of the Rangers, who are on the outside looking in.
The Islanders are looking to bounce back from a 6-2 loss in Tampa Tuesday. The Isles have not lost two consecutive games in regulation.
Some big lineup changes tonight as Casey Cizikas returns to the lineup. He will replace Alan Quine, who has an undisclosed injury. It cannot be stated enough how valuable Cizikas is to the team, especially the penalty kill. The unit allowed seven power-play goals in the four games (2-2) Cizikas missed. The unit sorely misses Nikolai Kulemin as well, resulting in the 30th-ranked penalty kill.
Johnny Boychuk will also miss the game with a lingering injury. He felt it again in the morning skate. Head coach Doug Weight doesn’t think it’s serious. Thomas Hickey will be in the lineup.
Jaroslav Halak will get the start. This team will live and die with goaltending. Halak’s season has been weird. According to Corsica, his even-strength save percentage is .931, which is a respectable ninth. The not-so-respectable? His low-danger save percentage of .947, which is last.
Greiss has allowed 11 goals in his last game and a half. Not all of the goals allowed were his fault. The defense has been brutal, they’ve allowed many forwards to get behind the defensemen and pounding home rebounds. One of these units has to improved in order for this team to succeed.
On the Penguins side, Tristan Jarry has filled in nicely for Matt Murray, who has been out with a lower-body injury. Jarry is 4-1-2 with a 2.30 goals against and .926 save pct.
Defenseman Justin Schultz will not play. Schultz left Tuesday’s game against the Rangers with a lower-body injury.