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Thursday, 27 October 2011 10:59

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

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

TV: Root Sports MSG Plus.

Record: 3-4-0, 6 points. The Islanders are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares, 10 points (six goals, 4 assists).

Last Game: 3-0 home shutout to the Penguins, Tuesday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 save for the Penguins.

Last Game against the Penguins: Ditto.

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Blake Comeau. He scored his first career goal against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Islanders: Mark Eaton, D; Matt Moulson (above), LW (Moulson was a Penguins draft pick but never played for the organization); Garth Snow, general manager.

Ex-Islanders on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Dan Bylsma, head coach; Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Bill Guerin, player development coach; Richard Park, C.

Useless Islanders Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Eaton is one of two former Penguins to wear No. 4 for the Islanders. The other is Joel Bouchard.

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: Christie Brinkley is an Islander:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (6-2-0, 1.87 GAA, .937 SV%) for the Penguins. The Islanders have not announced if Rick DiPietro (8-14-4, 3.44 GAA, .886 SV%), Al Montoya (2-2-0, 2.01 GAA, .930 SV%) or Evgeni Nabokov (1-2-0, 2.37 GAA, .923 SV%) will start.

Injuries: For the Penguins, center Evgeni Malkin (right knee) is day to day. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek (finger) is out. Defensemen Roberto Bortuzzo (knee), Boris Valabik (knee), Brian Strait (arm), centers Sidney Crosby (concussion), Tyler Kennedy (concussion) and right winger Nick Petersen (concussion) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, goaltender Rick DiPietro (concussion) and defenseman Milan Jurcina (shoulder) are day to day. Defenseman Mark Katic (shoulder), right winger Nino Niederreiter (groin) and right winger Rhett Rakhshani (concussion) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings agaisnt the Islanders Tuesday were:

Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Richard Park - Arron Asham
Dustin Jeffrey - Joe Vitale -Craig Adams

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

-The Islanders' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Penguins Tuesday were:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau
Kyle Okposo - Frans Nielsen - Michael Grabner
Blake Comeau - Josh Bailey - Brian Rolston
Jay Pandolfo - Marty Reasoner - Matt Martin

Mark Streit - Steve Staios
Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic
Mike Mottau - Mark Eaton

Notes:

-Jordan Staal steps his game up.

-Cooke has 98 career points with the Penguins.

-Neal has 146 career points.

-Park has 97 career goals.

-The Penguins have won 11 consecutive home games against the Islanders.

-DiPietro makes his first return to Pittsburgh for the first time since:

-The Penguins will wear purple jerseys in warm-ups to benefit Hockey Fights Cancer.

-The Penguins will wear their blue "Frankenstein" mish-mash third jerseys in the game.

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

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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