Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Islanders (3-3-3) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (7-2-0) square off live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all the action on WRHU 88.7 FM, while Pittsburgh fans can do the same by accessing 105.9 FM WXDX.
This is the first game of the season between these two Metropolitan Division rivals and the first since the Penguins eliminated the Islanders in Game 6 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring. The Penguins enter the game tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference as they stand atop the division with 14 points, while the Islanders come into the contest in fourth place with nine points.
Pittsburgh won seven of their first eight contests and then was shutout by the surprising Colorado Avalanche 1-0 on Monday, when its power play had a rough outing.
"Going 0-for-7 on the power play, we had plenty of opportunities there, had plenty of good looks," coach Dan Bylsma told NHL.com. "I think there were three or four the guys would like to have back."
The Islanders come into the contest having won just one out of their last six games. New York let an early two-goal lead slip away against the Vancouver Canucks in an eventual 5-4 overtime loss on Tuesday. Captain John Tavares said the team couldn't avoid mental lapses in the last loss.
"I don't think we played too bad the first two periods," Tavares said. "We shot ourselves in the foot a few times there and let them get back in it and take the lead right before the third. I thought we did a lot of good things the first two periods, but mental lapses ended up in the back of our net."
Tavares is tied for the Islanders team lead in points with 11 on four goals and seven assists along with Frans Nielsen (team-high five goals, six assists), and Kyle Okposo is tied with the Islanders captain with a team-leading seven assists to go along with three goals for 10 points.
New York will be without Michael Grabner (2-6-8) as he serves the second and final game of his suspension for an illegal hit to the head he put on Carolina Hurricanes' center Nathan Gerbe last Saturday.
The Penguins boast Sidney Crosby, who comes into the game with the league-lead in points (17) while he's tied for second in the NHL in assists (10) and tied for third in the league in goals scored (seven). Along with Crosby, the Penguins have a potent offense as Chris Kunitz has 10 points off of four goals and six assists, while Evgeni Malkin (three goals, six assists) and Pascal Dupuis (two tallies, seven helpers) each have nine points.
Pittsburgh's explosive offense will look to continue its scoring ways tonight against the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov has started eight out of nine games in net for New York while posting a 3-2-3 record with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. For Pittsburgh, Marc-Andre Fleury has played eight out of nine games and has posted an impressive 7-1-0 record with a 1.74 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Pittsburgh hopes to have one of its premiere blueliners back as Kris Letang, who hasn't played yet this season due to a lower-body injury, looks to make his season debut after practicing with the team this week.
Two Metropolitan Division rivals go head-to-head as the Islanders look to narrow the gap against the division leaders while the Penguins hope to wake up their usually-potent offense after being shutout Monday when the lights come on at Consol Energy Center tonight in Pittsburgh.
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