Penguins vs. Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Neither wing James Neal nor defenseman Brooks Orpik accompanied the Pittsburgh Penguins for the team's pre-game warmups prior to Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the New York Islanders. Their absence means they will not dress for the game and that Penguins coach Dan Bylsma will stick to mostly the same lineup that fell 4-3 to the Islanders in Game 2 at Consol Energy Center Friday night.

The only lineup change will be on defense, where Simon Despres will replace Deryk Engelland

Neal skated briefly on Saturday and Orpik worked with team strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar Sunday morning, but neither appears ready to return from their respective lower-body injuries.

Here are the projected lines for the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis

Beau Bennett - Evgeni Malkin - Jarome Iginla

Brenden Morrow - Brandon Sutter - Matt Cooke

Tanner Glass - Jussi Jokinen - Craig Adams

Paul Martin - Kris Letang

Douglas Murray - Matt Niskanen

Mark Eaton - Simon Despres

Marc-Andre Fleury

Tomas Vokoun

Scratched: Deryk Engelland, Tyler Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey, Eric Hartzell

Injured: Brooks Orpik (lower body), James Neal (lower body), Joe Vitale (lower body)

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders haven't played a home playoff game since 2007, so you can hardly blame the team's fans for lining up outside Nassau Coliseum at 7 a.m. for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Just one problem: the parking lot didn't open until 8 a.m.

Hours before puck drop, there was still a modest turnout in the parking lot, with loyal fans enjoying what would be an abbreviated tailgate experience before the early noon ET start. Even before ticketholders were allowed in the building, there was a palpable buzz throughout the arena.

"It's going to be sick," one young security guard said.

"I don't think I've ever seen it this busy," one usher said to another as spectators started to file into the building.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano changed up his lines before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins and saw his team rally to beat the Eastern Conference's regular-season champion.

With the series returning to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for an afternoon Game 3 on Sunday, Capuano said he's not going to change a thing.

"The way we handled our lineup all year was that the guys who played well deserved to play the following game," Capuano said, about two hours before the Islanders took the ice for their first playoff game at the Coliseum since 2007. "We're not going to change our mentality, as far as that goes."

That means Matt Moulson, the regular left wing on a line with John Tavares and Brad Boyes, will play with Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo; John Bailey will switch onto Tavares' line. The move paid off in Game 2, with the Islanders rallying from a 3-1 deficit for a series-tying 4-3 victory. Moulson had a goal and assisted on Okposo's game-winner.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who is nursing a lower-body injury and has not played since April 23, participated without equipment in solo skating and puck-handling drills with Pittsburgh strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar for at least 30 minutes prior to Pittsburgh's Sunday matinee against the New York Islanders.

Orpik didn't appear to show any major strain or discomfort in the drill but his status remains uncertain for Game 3 of Pittsburgh's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Islanders. While Orpik skated, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma refused to divulge any information about his lineup, only saying that the game's 12 pm E.T. start (NBC) would not affect his players or his decisions.

"Obviously no morning skate today. But we have and do play a fair amount of odd-timed games," Bylsma said. "This is as early as you get, but we're somewhat accustomed to playing games at a different time."

Pittsburgh saw the return of captain Sidney Crosby on Friday in a 4-3 loss Friday in Game 2 of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Consol Energy Center. And while Crosby scored twice in his first game action since March 30, the team was still without Orpik and James Neal, who played a bit more than eight minutes in Game 1 against the Islanders before leaving with a suspected ankle injury.

Byslma would not comment on the status of either player.

More will be known about the status of these players - as well as forward Joe Vitale, who has been out since April 20 with a lower-body injury - closer to game time.

Just to have some fun with the press, Neal pretended to use a hockey stick as a crutch and walked with a mock limp as he passed by members of the media prior to Bylsma's press conference.

Matt Moulson and John Tavares have been joined at the hip since they came to the New York Islanders in 2009. It's been a combination that has benefitted both parties -- Tavares has emerged as one of the NHL's top young stars, and Moulson became a three-time 30-goal scorer as his wingman.

The two were apart once in the regular season -- Moulson missed an early April game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a case of the flu. That's why there were more than a few double takes when Islanders coach Jack Capuano changed his line combinations before Game 2 of New York's Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With his team having scored twice in three games, and not at all in a 5-0 loss in Game 1, Capuano switched left wings on his first two lines, moving Josh Bailey onto a line with Tavares and Brad Boyes while putting Moulson with Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo.

The result: Moulson was the game's first star after scoring a goal and assisting on the game-winner in New York's 4-3 victory Friday night.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby returns to the site of his last road game, but this time the New York Islanders are a playoff team surrounded by fans who haven't seen a postseason game in person in six years.

After after the overwhelming positive reaction Crosby received when he returned to action in front of the home folks of Pittsburgh in Game 2 on Friday, you can expect an equally loud show of non-support in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Sunday (noon, NBC).

"That's the playoffs," Crosby said Saturday after practice at Nassau Coliseum. "I think you expect emotion, you expect the opposing team to feed off the crowd, and I don't think that's any different anywhere. They'll be excited and it'll be up to us to make sure to control that.

"Kind of everything gets magnified a little bit when you're on the road, every hit feels like a big one and every chance seems like a big one. So you have to be able to block all that out and just play the game."

The New York Islanders were a loose and confident group Saturday after taking Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series from the Pittsburgh Penguins the night before.

The Islanders trailed 3-1 but won 4-3 to even the best-of-7 series at one game each.

"We didn't get down. We stuck with it, applied pressure and came back," defenseman Mark Streit said Saturday. "The win is great for our confidence, but it's just one."

Forward James Neal skated briefly at Pittsburgh Penguins practice Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.

Neal did not play Game 2 of the team's Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series on Friday in Pittsburgh after he sustained a lower-body injury during the second period of Game 1 against the New York Islanders.

According to the Penguins website, Neal "skated a few laps on the ice four roughly 10 minutes in warm-ups."

Defenseman Brooks Orpik, who also missed Game 2, and forward Evgeni Malkin did not practice.

PITTSBURGH -- Forward James Neal and defenseman Brooks Orpik are not in the lineup for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Islanders at Consol Energy Center.

PITTSBURGH -- You'd think the last thing the New York Islanders would want coming off a 5-0 loss to a team that has won 24 of its past 28 games is for that opponent to welcome back its leading scorer and NHL MVP candidate into the lineup.

The reaction of New York's Frans Nielsen to the Pittsburgh Penguins announcing that Sidney Crosby will play in Friday's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 2? Bring it on.

"He's one of the best players in the world," Nielsen said after Friday's morning skate. "So it's a challenge -- and that's something that everyone who's involved with sports loves. It makes you more excited. It's always fun playing against the good players."

Crosby told reporters he was cleared to play, and the Penguins' official website and Twitter account announced he was returning in Game 2 to play for the first time since sustaining a broken jaw during his first shift of a game against the Islanders on March 30.