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Friday, 08 April 2011 09:30

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Islanders.

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

TV: Root Sports, MSG Plus, RIS.

Record: 30-38-12, 72 points. The Islanders are in 14th place of the Eastern Conference and fifth place of the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares, 64 points (22 goals, 36 assists).

Last Game: 3-2 road loss to the Bruins, Wednesday. Michael Grabner (right) scored two goals for the Islanders.

Last Game against the Penguins: 9-3 home win, Feb. 11. Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Some other stuff happened too...

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Tavares. He has 11 points in 10 career 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); 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 one-time Penguins have been the Islanders single-season leader sin penalty minutes They are Mike Comrie (87 penalty minute in 2007-08), Eric Godard (115 in 2005-06) and Eric Cairns (189 in 2003-04, 123 in 2002-03, 176 in 2001-02 and 196 in 1999-2000).

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: Islanders thuggery against the Penguins is nothing new. Back in 1996-97, New York defenseman Rich Pilon tried to engage Penguins captain Mario Lemieux in a stick fight:

Probable goaltenders: For the Penguins, Dan Bylsma said it be a game-time decision for either Marc-Andre Fleury (35-20-5, 2.31 GAA, .918 SV%) or Brent Johnson (12-5-3, 2.18 GAA, .920 SV%). Rick DiPietro (8-13-4, 3.34 GAA, .888 SV%) for the Islanders.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Dustin Jeffrey ("lower body") is out. Forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, defensemen Bruno Gervais (knee), Jack Hillen (shoulder) and Ty Wishart (shoulder) are day to day. Defensemen Milan Jurcina (hip), Andrew MacDonald (hip) and Frans Nielsen (concussion) are out. Forwards Trent Hunter (knee),  Doug Weight (back), defensemen Mark Eaton (hip), Mike Mottau (hip), Mark Streit (shoulder) and goaltender Kevin Poulin (knee) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines and defensive pairings at practice yesterday were:

James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner - Maxime Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
Eric Tangradi - Mike Comrie - Eric Godard

Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy - Deryk Engelland

-The Islanders has an optional practice yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Bruins Wednesday were:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner - Josh Bailey - Kyle Okposo
Matt Martin - Blake Comeau - Jesse Joensuu
Micheal Haley - Zenon Konopka - Trevor Gillies

Ty Wishart - Travis Hamonic
Matt Campanale - Radek Martinek
Mark Katic - Dylan Reese

Notes:

-Matt Cooke is serving a suspension.

-"We have no intention of repeating what happened in February." - Dan Bylsma.

-"We're not in a position to start anything. We took care of what we needed to take care of last game. The ball is kind of in their court now. They are still fighting for positioning and they're probably going to want to play some hockey." - Matt Martin.

-The Penguins have found something with this Conner-Talbot-Dupuis line.

-Letang has 99 career assists.

-Staal has 198 career points.

-Dupuis has 146 career assists.

-Comrie has 197 career assists.

-Rupp has 47 career goals.

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

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (4)

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written by rs8796, April 08, 2011 - 11:56 AM

Bury Gillies.

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written by BattleshipKelly, April 08, 2011 - 01:00 PM

Tonight will be all business and about getting two points. Next year's first regular season game will be a game for the ages, however.

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written by Boom Shaka, April 08, 2011 - 02:14 PM

"Took care of what we needed to take care of..."

Jokes.

Yea, you sure showed the league that your a bush-league organization who tries to make up for the fact that you continually suck on the ice by trying to turn a professional sport into an MMA match...

Isn't that biatch? The Pens probably won't respond to your stupid display because, WHOOPS, they're a well run organization that is worried about the ultimate prize, and not sending BS messages...

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written by bastage42, April 08, 2011 - 03:40 PM

As much as we need the 2 points, I can't imagine putting Fleury in net. All it'd take would be one idiot going "hard to the net" on a "hockey play". If the Isles have indeed "taken care of things" then there shouldn't be any lingering resentment to having Johnson in, and we should trust that he can get the job done in a game like this and let Flower rest up for the playoffs.

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