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Saturday, 10 December 2011 13:58

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Islanders.

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

TV: Root Sports, MSG Plus.

Record: 9-11-6, 24 points. The Islanders are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares (right), 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists).

Last Game: 3-2 overtime home loss to the Blackhawks, Thursday. Al Montoya made 25 saves for the Islanders.

Last Game against the Penguins: 5-0 road loss, Nov. 21. Sidney Crosby had two goals and two assists for the Penguins.

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Matt Moulson. He has a six-game scoring streak.

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; Tim Wallace, RW.

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, RW.

Useless Islanders Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The Islanders' all-time leader in plus/minus is former Penguins forward Bryan Trottier with a plus-470.

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: A brawl between the Penguins and the Islanders in the 1989-90 season which started between Penguins left winger Bob Errey and Islanders goaltender Glenn Healy:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (14-6-2, 2.20 GAA, .920 SV%) for the Penguins and Al Montoya (5-3-3, 2.14 GAA, ..930 SV%) for the Islanders.

Injuries: For the Penguins, centers Sidney Crosby (head) and Jordan Staal (undisclosed) and Zbynek Michalek (head) are out. Defensemen Kris Letang (head), Ben Lovejoy (left wrist), Brian Strait (elbow), center Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and right winger Richard Park (undisclosed) are on injured reserve. For the Islanders, goaltender Rick DiPietro (groin) and right winger Nino Niederreiter (concussion) are out. defensemen Mark Eaton (knee), Mark Katic (shoulder), Andrew MacDonald (right leg), left winger Jay Pandolfo (foot) and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov (groin) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: With the recall of Jason Williams from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton today, this is a guess at the Penguins' lines and defensive pairings:

Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Joe Vitale - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Jason Williams - Tyler Kennedy
Arron Asham - Craig Adams - Steve MacIntyre

Brooks Orpik - Deryk Engelland
Simon Despres - Paul Martin
Alexandre Picard - Matt Niskanen

-The Islanders primary lines and defensive pairings against the Blackhawks Thursday were:

Matt Moulston - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau
Kyle Okposo - Frans Nielsen - Michael Grabner
David Ullstrom - Joshua Bailey - Brian Rolston
Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Tim Wallace

Mark Streit - Travis Hamonic
Steve Staios - Milan Jurcina
Mike Mottau - Dylan Reese

Notes:

-Jordan Staal will not play after leaving today's morning skate due an undisclosed injury.

-Welcome back Deryk Engelland.

-The last time the Penguins played the Islanders, this happened:

-Engelland has appeared in 99 career games.

-Asham has 199 career points.

-Dupuis has 298 career points.

-Orpik has 98 career points.

-Park has 97 career goals.

-Paul Martin has 196 career points.

-Picard has 46 career assists.

-Cooke has 998 career penalty minutes.

-Matt Martin has appeared in 99 career games.

-The Islanders will be wearing their ghastly third jerseys tonight.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 6:45 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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