The New York Islanders are set to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Metropolitan Division matchup at UBS Arena on Tuesday night. The game, which starts at 7:30 PM, can be watched on TNT and HBO Max or listened to via local radio stations and the Islanders + UBS Arena app.
Following a 4-1 defeat against the Washington Capitals on Monday, the Islanders aim to recover and close the gap with the Penguins in the division standings. The Islanders currently hold third place with 65 points, trailing Pittsburgh by two points. However, Pittsburgh has played two fewer games. The Capitals are just two points behind New York, while Columbus is four points back with two games in hand.
Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders in their recent loss to Washington, marking his fourth goal in five games.
The Penguins recently had their six-game winning streak ended by a 3-2 loss to Ottawa but have been performing strongly since Christmas. They have posted a record of 13-3-2 since then and accumulated 28 points during that period, ranking third among NHL teams over that span. Their offense has averaged just over four goals per game since December 25th, and their penalty kill is operating at 90%, also second-best in the league. On December 25th, Pittsburgh was seventh in the division but now sits second.
Sidney Crosby has contributed significantly during this stretch with seven goals and thirteen assists in eighteen games. Evgeni Malkin has recorded fourteen points over thirteen games as well. Anthony Mantha leads Pittsburgh with eight goals since late December.
For Tuesday’s game, Ilya Sorokin is expected to start for New York. This season he holds an 18-13-2 record with a goals-against average of 2.44 and a .916 save percentage along with six shutouts—the most in the league so far this year. Against Pittsburgh specifically, Sorokin has won eleven out of seventeen career matchups.
The projected lines for New York remain unchanged from Monday’s game:
Ondrej Palat – Bo Horvat – Mathew Barzal
Emil Heineman – Jonathan Drouin – Simon Holmstrom
Anders Lee – JG Pageau – Anthony Duclair
Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Marc Gatcomb
Defensive pairings include Matthew Schaefer with Ryan Pulock; Adam Pelech alongside Tony DeAngelo; Carson Soucy paired with Scott Mayfield.
In their only previous meeting this season on October 9th, Pittsburgh defeated New York 4-3 at home. Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell each registered two points for Pittsburgh while Evgeni Malkin provided three assists.
Kris Letang will miss Tuesday’s contest due to a fractured foot sustained last week; he is expected to be sidelined for about four weeks after tallying twenty-five points this season so far. Bryan Rust returns from suspension and could bolster Pittsburgh’s lineup—he has notched thirty-nine points through forty-seven games this year.
Stuart Skinner is likely to start as goaltender for Pittsburgh after being acquired from Edmonton earlier this season; he holds an impressive record of eight wins out of nine starts since late December.
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