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The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are two teams heading in opposite directions as they meet in Long Island for the 3rd time this season. The Islanders took the first game this year by a score of 4-3. The Penguins returned the favor with a 4-3 win of their own powered by a late Sidney Crosby goal in the 3rd period.
Before I get into the game preview I wanted to take a moment to congratulate former Penguins and Islander Bill Guerin on being inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame.
Bill Guerin is a former two time Cup champion, 3 time Olympian, and 4 time NHL all-star.
Guerin was a huge part of the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, not only on the ice but the role he provided as a leader in the locker room.
Guerin is currently the Penguins player development coach.
Also inducted was Bill Guerin’s friend and former Islander Doug Weight.
"It's very special, three different NHL teams and nine teams in all," Weight said about the number of times he teamed up with Guerin. "It's a pretty incredible run together."It's icing on the cake to go in with Billy."
Weight and Guerin's wives and children have become friends over the years, going on vacations together and sharing holidays as families.
"It couldn't have worked out any better," Guerin said.
Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, Ron Mason (Michigan State Coach/AD, Lake Superior State Coach, and Bowling Green Coach), and Cindy Curley (Women’s hockey pioneer).
The great USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen was awarded the Lester Patrick award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
Congratulations to the above mentioned on their contributions to USA Hockey.
Back to tonight’s game, the Islanders are 0-5-1 in their last 6 games. They are in last place in the worst division in hockey. The Islanders are 8-15-4 and have 20 points, only the Panthers and Sabres are worse in the Eastern Conference.
This is not what Garth Snow had in mind when he made the bold trade of acquiring Thomas Vanek’s services. In fact when Vanek has been in the lineup the Islanders record is a brutal 2-8-1.
Could the Islanders find themselves so far out of the playoff chase that they actually have to try and flip Vanek for what they can get? Or will Garth Snow double down and try to obtain the services of somebody like Ryan Miller?
The Penguins are on the opposite end of the spectrum in their last 6 games as they have gone 4-1-1.
Extrapolate that out to the last 10 games and two teams are complete opposites of one another. The Penguins are 7-2-1 and the Islanders are 2-7-1
The Penguins will look to further their lead in the Metropolitan Division with a victory over the Islanders tonight.
Line Combos
Projected lineup for the Penguins:
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis Jokinen-Malkin-Neal Conner-Sutter-Ebbett Sill-Vitale-Adams
Orpik-Engelland Maatta-Letang Despres-Niskanen Bortuzzo
Projected lineup for New York:
Vanek-Tavares-Okposo Grabner-Nielsen-Bailey Marc Bouchard-Regin-Clutterbuck Martin-Cizikas-McDonald
MacDonald-Hamonic de Haan-Hickey Ness-Carkner
Injuries
Chuck Kobasew returned to full practice on Monday.
Per Penguins official website:
Defenseman Brian Strait (upper body) and goalie Evgeni Nabokov (strained groin) did individual work Monday before Islanders practice, skating for the first time since their respective injuries. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) will see a specialist early this week and may join the Islanders on the road if he's cleared to skate.
Power Play
The Pittsburgh Penguins have the best power play in the NHL right now and it currently sits at 25.3%.
Dare I say that the Penguins power play still has room for improvement? Scary thought.
The Islanders power play is ranked 21st overall at 16.3%.
The Penguins are 10th in the league with 95 power play opportunities
The Islanders are tied for 18th overall with 92 power play opportunities.
Penalty Kill
The Penguins have dropped to 8th overall in the NHL on the penalty kill and are at 85.2%
The Islanders are ranked dead last in the league with 72.5%.
The best course of action for the Islanders would be to not take penalties against the Penguins. Usually when the #1 power play in the league goes up against the league’s worst PK unit goals will be scored.
The Penguins are 8th best in the league with only being shorthanded 81 times
The Islanders are tied for 4th best with only being shorthanded 79 times.
Fenclose%
The Penguins are 4th overall at 54.9%
The Islanders are 17th overall at 49.3%
Much like the Panthers game the Islanders are going to have to take advantage of even strength play as they do not have the edge in special teams.
Even Strength Save %
The Penguins and Islanders do not bring to the table high end goaltending according to the statistics.
The Islanders rank 27th overall in EVSV% with .905%. Both Evgeni Nabokov and Kevin Poulin have an identical EVSV% of .905%.
The Penguins are ranked 23rd overall with .916%. The Penguins have improved from being 27th earlier last week with an EVSV% of .910%. Marc Andre Fleury is at .918%.
With goaltending numbers like that it is no wonder why you hear Ryan Miller’s name being thrown around in rumors that involve both the Islanders and the Penguins.
That’s the game preview.
Thanks for reading!
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