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Friday, 11 February 2011 13:01

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Islanders.

When and where: 7 p.m., Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus, RIS.

Record: 18-29-7, 43 points. The Islanders are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares (right), 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists).

Last Game: 4-3 road shootout win against the Canadiens, last night. Michael Grabner had two goals in regulation for the Islanders.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-0 road loss, Feb. 2. Brent Johnson had 20 saves and one knockout for the Penguins:

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Grabner. He has points in 11 of his last 13 games.

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); 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: The first postseason shutout in Islanders history came against the Penguins, Glenn "Chico" Resch made 30 saves in a 1-0 road win in Game 7 of a quarterfinal round series, April 26, 1975. That win completed a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit for the Islanders.

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: As badly as DiPietro did against Johnson, he can still claim he probably did better than former Islanders goaltender Tommy Salo against former Rangers goaltender Dan Cloutier:

Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (9-4-2, 1.90 GAA, .929 SV%) for the Penguins. Islanders coach Jack Capuano said recent acquisition Al Montoya was a "possibility" for tonight's game. Montoya has not played in the NHL this season.

Injuries: This is kind of messy. For the Penguins, forward Dustin Jeffrey ("lower body") is out. Forwards Arron Asham (undisclosed), Mike Comrie (hip) Sidney Crosby (concussion), Mark Letestu (knee), Evgeni Malkin (knee) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, goaltender Kevin Poulin (knee) is out. Forwards Jeremy Colliton (ribs), Blake Comeau (concussion), Trent Hunter (knee), Doug Weight (back), goaltenders Rick DiPietro (face), Nathan Lawson (knee), defensemen Mark Eaton (hip), Mike Mottau (hip and eye) and Mark Streit (shoulder) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: Given Jeffrey's injury, this is a semi-educated guess at the Penguins lines:

Tyler Kennedy - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Brett Sterling - Joe Vitale - Nick Johnson
Ryan Craig - Craig Adams - Eric Godard

Their primary defensive pairings against the Kings last night were:

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland

-The Islanders primary lines and defensive pairings against the Canadiens last night were:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Rob Schremp - Josh Bailey - Jesse Joensuu
Matt Martin - Zenon Konopka - Trevor Gillies

Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic
Jack Hillen - Milan Jurcina
Bruno Gervais - Radek Martinek

Notes:

-Matt Cooke is serving a suspension.

-Jeffrey appeared to injury his right hip or upper leg last night (PG+).

-Orpik has played in 499 career games.

-Michalek has 98 career assists.

-Kennedy has 48 career goals.

-The Islanders offiically recalled Montoya from Bridgeport of the AHL and demoted goaltender Joel Martin to Bridgeport.

-The Islanders also recalled tough guy Michael Haley from Bridgeport.

-Islanders goaltender Mikko Koskinen made this insane save against the Canadiens last night:

-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (1)

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written by NC Dave, February 11, 2011 - 12:57 PM

The Islanders also recalled tough guy Michael Haley from Bridgeport.

I guess they need someone who might be able to go toe to toe with Johnson.

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