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Monday, 21 November 2011 11:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Islanders.

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

TV: Root Sports (in Pittsburgh), MSG (in New York), Versus (outside Pittsburgh and New York), CBC

Record: 5-9-3, 13 points. The Islanders are in last place in the Eastern Conference.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares, 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists).

Last Game: 6-0 home loss to the Bruins, Saturday. Rick DiPietro (right) made 10 saves for the Islanders.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 road shootout loss, Oct. 27. Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Penguins.

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Josh Bailey. The last time Sidney Crosby plaed the Islanders, Bailey had the Islanders' lone regulation goal in a 2-1 home win, Dec. 29, 2010.

Ex-Penguins on the Islanders: Mark Eaton, D; Matt Moulson, 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: Former Penguins forward Bryan Trottier holds the Islanders records for fastest goal to start a game. He took all of five seconds to score in an 3-3 against the Bruins, March 22, 1984.

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: Pat LaFontaine's series-winning goal in the fourth overtime of a 3-2 win of Game 7 in a 1987 Patrick Division semfinal round:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (10-3-1, 2.04 GAA, .924 SV%) for the Penguins and Rick DiPietro (2-2-2, 3.34 GAA, .886 SV%).

Injuries: For the Penguins, center Dustin Jeffrey (knee) is out. Defensemen Ben Lovejoy (left wrist), Zbynek Michalek (finger) and Brian Strait (elbow) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, goaltenders goaltender Al Montoya (hamstring), Evgeni Nabokov (groin) and defenseman Mark Katic (shoulder) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: With the return of Sidney Crosby, consider this an educated guess:

Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Arron Asham - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams

Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Deryk Engelland - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Alexandre Picard

The Islanders' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Bruins were:

Matt Moulston - John Tavares - Michael Grabner
Brian Rolston - Frans Nielsen - P.A. Parenteau
Blake Comeau - Marty Reasoner - Nino Niederreiter
Matt Martin - Josh Bailey - Jay Pandolfo

Mark Streit - Steve Staios
Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic
Mark Eaton - Milan Jurcina

-Islanders coach Jack Capuano said he intended to insert forwards Kyle Okposo and David Ullstrom into the lineup on the wings. No word yet on which players would come out.

Notes:

-Welcome back Sidney Crosby.

-Brent Johnson has appeared in 299 career games.

-Park has 97 career goals.

-Orpik has 96 career points.

-Picard has 46 career assists.

-Letang has 145 career points.

-Asham has 195 career points.

-The Islanders recalled forward Ullstrom from Bridgeport of the AHL.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Comments (2)

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written by GenoSid, November 21, 2011 - 11:00 AM

Which guy do you pull off of the top PP?

I've never been a fan to two units, but...now might be the time...Unit #2 could be...

Kennedy Staal Crosby
Niskanen Martin

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written by D Sanchez, November 21, 2011 - 11:20 AM

Sid and Michalek back, DiPietro in goal. We could be looking at a 10-1 game here!

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