Game Preview: New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2/20/2024 - Lines, how to watch

The Penguins head into a division battle having lost four of their last five games.

Who: New York Islanders (22-18-14, 58 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (24-21-7, 55 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Sportsnet Pittsburgh, MSG Network

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins have two more games at home this week, with a Thursday contest against the Montreal Canadiens followed by another division game Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins can’t really afford to give up any points at this juncture, but it feels especially critical to get a few during this home stretch, because next up is a four-game West Coast road trip that involves four games in six days.

Opponent Track: The Islanders lost a Stadium Series battle to the New York Rangers at MetLife Stadium in overtime Sunday, which marked their second extra-time loss in a row after dropping a 2-1 shootout decision to the Seattle Kraken five days prior. In general it’s been an uninspiring stretch for the Isles, who haven’t been able to turn things around since hiring Patrick Roy as their head coach on Jan. 20. The Islanders have lost six of nine games under Roy’s tenure so far.

Season Series: The Penguins picked up two quick wins against the Islanders in December thanks to a 7-0 Tristan Jarry shutout on Dec. 27 followed by two Lars Eller goals in a 3-1 victory on Dec. 31.

Getting to know the Islanders

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal

Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri

Simon Holmström - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

DEFENSEMEN

Alexander Romanov / Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech / Ryan Pulock

Mike Reilly / Scott Mayfield

Goalies: Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov

Possible scratches: Hudson Fasching, Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc

IR: Robert Bortuzzo

• Ex-Penguin Robert Bortuzzo, who has been on the long-term injured reserve since Feb. 4, has been practicing with the team and could be making his return soon.
• Scott Mayfield has steadily seen his minutes decline throughout the season alongside his play, a serious concern for a team that signed him to a seven-year extension in July.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Defenseman Noah Dobson is a on a hot streak. He has five assists in his last three games, including three during Sunday’s overtime loss to the Rangers.

Two fatal flaws in Long Island

Both of this Islanders team’s biggest flaws were on display at MetLife Stadium this weekend.

For one, the penalty kill. The Islanders have killed off just 70.7 percent of opposing power plays so far this season. That NHL-worst total did not include the Rangers power play that erased the Islanders’ lead with less than two minutes remaining in the third period of Sunday’s outdoor game.

That brings us to the second problem: blown leads. The Isles blew a 4-1 lead in Sunday’s loss, not to mention a 5-3 lead late in the third period.

Then they lost 10 seconds into overtime. And that’s not the first multi-goal advantage they’ve squandered this season.

Efforts under Roy to push for a playoff spot have so far been ineffective. From the New York Post’s Ethan Sears on the Islanders’ troubles:

Roy spent the four days off going into Sunday holding a sort of training camp 2.0, trying to build a culture and work on fundamentals.

The Islanders are close enough to the playoffs in terms of points to try and go for it at the trade deadline.

But the new head coach feeling the need to preach fundamentals — and then the team falling right back into its old habits at the first available opportunity — says just as much as the standings about how close they really are.

And now for the Penguins

Projected lines (from Monday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Drew O’Connor - Evgeni Malkin - Matthew Phillips

Reilly Smith - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen

Jansen Harkins - Jeff Carter - Colin White

DEFENSEMEN

P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Chad Ruhwedel

Goalies: Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratch: Jesse Puljujarvi, John Ludvig

IR: Noel Acciari (concussion), Matt Nieto (out from knee surgery until March)

• Changes at Monday’s practice included swapping in P.O. Joseph on the first pairing (and sliding Pettersson in beside Karlsson, while slotting in Graves on the third) as well as flanking Malkin with Matthew Phillips and Drew O’Connor while Reilly Smith falls to the third line.

• It’s hard to imagine the addition of Phillips is what’s going to turn things around for Malkin, who has one goal and five assists in his last 13 games. Even if the Penguins are reluctant to move Rakell, who has struggled on any line other than Crosby’s, it seems like trying Rust on Malkin’s wing could be worth a shot.

• The changes also put P.O. Joseph and Kris Letang together for (almost) the first time this season. The only defenseman Letang has spent fewer minutes skating alongside at 5v5 so far this season is Chad Ruhwedel, per Natural Stat Trick.