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Tuesday, 25 January 2011 10:30

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Islanders.

When and where: 7 p.m., Consol Energy Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus.

Record: 15-25-7, 37 points. The Islanders are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares, 36 points (18 goals, 18 assists).

Last Game: 5-3 home loss to the Sabre, Monday. Matt Moulson (right) scored both of the Islanders' goals.

Last Game against the Penguins: 2-1 home shootout win Jan. 29. Sidney Crosby had his 25-game point-scoring streak snapped.

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Josh Bailey. He has points in three consecutive games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Islanders: Eric Cairns, player development; Mark Eaton, D; Matt Moulson, LW (Moulson was a Penguins draft pick but never actually played for the organization); Jon Sim, LW; Garth Snow, general manager.

Ex-Islanders on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Mike Comrie, C; Dan Bylsma, head coach; Eric Godard, RW..

Useless Islanders Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Three former Islanders first-round picks have played for the Penguins. They are Pat Price (1975), Darius Kasparaitis (1992) and Mike Rupp (1998).

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: Pat LaFontaine could get it done for the Islanders:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (22-11-2, 2.25 GAA, .922 SV%) for the Penguins and Rick DiPietro (7-8-4, 3.39 GAA, .891 SV%) for the Islanders.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) are out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Eric Godard (nose) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, goaltender Nathan Lawson (knee) is day to day. Defensemen Mark Eaton (hip), Milan Jurcina ("upper body"), Mike Mottau (hip/eye), Mark Streit (shoulder), forwards Trent Hunter (knee) and Doug Weight (back) are on injured reserve.  Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has not reported to the team.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins did not practice with a full crew yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Hurricanes Saturday were:

Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Kunitz - Mark Letestu - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Craig Adams - Dustin Jeffrey - Arron Asham

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Ben Lovejoy

-The Islanders primary lines and defensive pairings against the Sabres Saturday were:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Blake Comeau - Rob Schremp - Josh Bailey
Matt Martin - Zenon Konopka - Jeremy Colliton

Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic
Radek Martinek - Jack Hillen
Dylan Reese - Bruno Gervais

Notes:

-Letang and Kunitz each skipped practice yesterday due to an illness. They are expected to play today.

-Paul Martin has played in 449 career games.

-Dupuis has 99 career points with the Penguins.

-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

Comments (3)

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written by eman41, January 25, 2011 - 11:03 AM

Looking for Jordan Staal to continue his comeback and step up to dominate the Isles, and lead this team with Geno/Sid out.

That said, Moulson and Tavares will bury a couple like they always do for no good reason.

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written by Huckster, January 25, 2011 - 04:39 PM

Yes..looking for Staal to have a big game. Need to get this one and keep the points coming into the break. LET'S GO PENS!

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written by Huckster, January 25, 2011 - 04:55 PM

They have to really stay on Parenteau tonight too. My real wish though is to see Bylsma getting these guys able to counter the Trap. The Isles put it on us the last meeting as did the Wild and the Devils and this Pens squad is not handling it well at all this year. Probably another Trap game tonight but I would really like to see them bust through and bury these Isles and get 2 points going into the All Star Break.

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