Game 21 Preview: Penguins Visit Islanders

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Nov 26, 11:04 AM | Hype this story!
Pittsburgh Penguins
Series – 1 GP
W L OTL Pts.
1 0 0 2
 
New York Islanders
Series – 1 GP
Pts. W L OTL
1 0 0 1

7:00 at Nassau Coliseum
TV: FSN Pittsburgh
Radio: WXDX Radio, FM 105.9
Probable Goalies: Sabourin (Pit), MacDonald (NYI)

 
Inside The Game

Looking to get back into the winning ways, the Pittsburgh Penguins will travel to New York to play the Atlantic Division’s worst team, the Islanders.

But the Islanders are as bad as they appeared to be early in the season, riding a stretch of six games that has seen them win five.

The last time these teams met, November 8, the Islanders blew a two-goal lead and lost in shootout.  Tyler Kennedy had a two-goal game, and Petr Sykora scored the lone shootout goal.

Tonight’s game likely will be much of the same, as the Islanders always seem to play the Penguins tough.

Possibly the most important aspect of tonight’s game will be the Penguins’ power play, which has been downright bad over the past few games, leading coach Michel Therrien to make adjustments.

“We’re facing adversity with our power play right now,” coach Michel Therrien said, according to Yahoo. “We’re going to have to get better. It’s pretty simple.  Your power play has to give you momentum. … Right now it’s a little bit the opposite. We’re losing all our momentum with the power play.”

However, Dany Sabourin, who has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his six starts, has been a rock while Marc-Andre Fleury has been sidelined.

Projected Lines:

Talbot-Crosby-Satan
Dupuis-Malkin-Sykora
Kennedy-Staal-Cooke
Fedotenko-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Scuderi-Gill
Boucher-Goligoski

Sabourin
 
Standings
  GP W L OTL Pts Division Conference League
Penguins 20 12 5 3 27 2, Atlantic 4, Eastern 6, NHL
Islanders 21 9 10 2 20 5, Atlantic 10, Eastern 21, NHL
                 
Team Statistics
  GF GA PP% PK% Home Away L 10 Streak
Penguins 63 55 18.3 84.3 6-3-2 6-2-1 7-2-1 1 loss
Islanders 56 66 17.0 84.0 4-6-1 5-4-1 6-3-1 2 wins
                 
Team Leaders
  Stat Penguins   Stat Islanders
Goals 9 Satan Goals 8 Guerin, Hunter
Assists 24 Malkin Assists 17 Weight
Points 31 Malkin Points 21 Weight
+/- +8 Kennedy +/- +4 Sutton
PIMs 46 Godard PIMs 35 Bergenheim
Wins 8 Fleury Wins 9 MacDonald
GAA 1.66 Sabourin GAA 2.78 MacDonald
Sv% .935 Sabourin Sv% .912 MacDonald
 
Injuries/Suspensions
Penguins Injury Status
Fleury, DTD
Gonchar, IR
Whitney, IR		 Undisclosed
Shoulder Surgery
Foot Surgery		 Out indefinitely
Out until late March
Out until December
Islanders Injury Status
Thompson, IR
Dipietro, IR
Comrie, DTD
Meyer, IR
Nielsen, DTD
Okposo, DTD
Pock
Sillinger, IR		 Groin
Knee
Hip
Abdominal
Head, leg
Arm
Suspension
Hip		 Out until late November
Out until early December
Questionable
Out until late November
Out until late January
Out until late November
Five-game suspension (Nov 26 return)
Out until early December
 
Note: Info up-to-date as of 10:00 am, Wednesday, November 26, 2008.

Comments

  1. Ben Schmidt

    Nov 26, 02:13 PM

    According to the Pens’ website, Gill and Scuderi have been split up.

    The defensive pairings are now:
    Orpik-Letang
    Scuderi-Goligoski
    Gill-Boucher
    http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=394489

    I’m glad to see it – this makes each pairing consist of an offensive defenseman and a defensive defenseman.

  2. Matt Bodenschatz

    Nov 26, 02:20 PM

    Ben, that’s interesting, as I got my lineup from their site this morning. Obviously, Therrien made changes during the game-day skate.

    And, like you, I’m a fan of the new combinations, as each pairing has an offensive player and a defensive player. In my opinion, that is the exact balance the Penguins need.

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