Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the New York Islanders (12-6-0, 24 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (13-3-1, 27 points) face-off for the second of five meetings this season live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all of the action on WRHU 88.7 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on WXDX 105.9.
New York has won six of its last seven games while Pittsburgh is on a three-game winning streak and will try to make it four straight victories. The Penguins topped the Islanders 3-1 in the first meeting between these teams on Oct. 18.
This is the first contest of a home-and-home as these two teams play each other in New York on Saturday. Pittsburgh sits on top of the Metropolitan Division, but New York is in second place and trails by just three points.
The Penguins are coming off of a 4-0 win over the NHL-best Montreal Canadiens that saw captain Sidney Crosby notch his eighth goal of the season.
Crosby is second in the NHL with 18 assists and 26 points thus far this season. Patric Hornqvist (nine goals, 11 assists) and Evgeni Malkin (seven tallies, 13 helpers) are each second behind Crosby with 20 points.
While Hornqvist and Malkin have had solid campaigns, Hornqvist isn't satisfied overall with their chemistry thus far.
"I think we haven't really been clicking that much lately, but hopefully we can get it tonight," Hornqvist told NHL.com.
The Islanders have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign, which continued with a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday that saw Brock Nelson pick up his team-best ninth goal of the season.
Nelson has added nine assists to rank tied with captain John Tavares (seven goals, 11 assists) and Kyle Okposo (fiver markers, 13 helpers) atop the scoresheet with 18 points.
In net, New York is slated to go with backup Chad Johnson for Game 1 of the home-and-home and he is 4-2-0 thus far this season with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .878 save percentage thus far this season.
Johnson knows he's being thrust into a matchup with one of the premiere teams in the league.
"Obviously, they have Malkin and Crosby, they have lots of skill," Johnson said via NHL.com. "Not seeing them is an adjustment, but it is what it is. You can't really worry about who it is too much. You just have to play your game and stay focused and kind of stay together to kind of play strong."
Pittsburgh will counter with Marc-Andre Fleury, who is tied for second in the league with 11 wins and owns a 1.98 GAA while ranking tied for fourth in the NHL with a .930 save percentage.
The Islanders and Penguins kick off a home-and-home when the puck drops tonight at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
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