Game Preview: Islanders at Penguins

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (30-28-8) AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (28-31-10)

7 PM | PPG PAINTS ARENA

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LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP

The New York Islanders are in the Steel City to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Thanks to a four-goal third period, the Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Sunday night. Marc Gatcomb, Max Tysplakov, Noah Dobson and Simon Holmstrom (ENG) scored for the Isles and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the win.

Pittsburgh is coming off a high-flying 7-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday for their fourth win in a row. Connor Dewar (2G), Danton Heinen, Rickard Rakell, Philip Tomasino (1G, 1A), Erik Karlsson (PPG) and Kevin Hayes led the way offensively for the Penguins, while Tristan Jarry backstopped the Penguins with 24 saves in the win.

SEASON SERIES AND STANDINGS IMPLICATIONS

The Islanders trail the season series 1-2-0 against the Penguins, dropping both games of a back-to-back set in late December after winning 5-4 in a shootout on Nov. 5. The Islanders are 8-3-0 in the last 11 games against Pittsburgh, including 3-2-0 at PPG Paints Arena.

The Islanders (68 points) are four points back of the New York Rangers (72 points) for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and the Isles have two games in-hand. The Montreal Canadiens (71 points), Columbus Blue Jackets (70 points) and Detroit Red Wings (70 points) stand between the Islanders and Rangers in the tight race.

The Islanders (68 points) are two points ahead of the Penguins (66 points) with three games in-hand. The out-of-town scoreboard was kind to the Isles on Monday night, as the Columbus Blue Jackets (70 points) lost to the New Jersey Devils 2-1, the Boston Bruins (69 points) fell to the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 and the Philadelphia Flyers (64 points) got shut out 2-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

ISLES NOTES

- The Islanders rallied to overcome a multi-goal deficit after two periods to win in regulation for the first time since Oct. 29, 2022.

- Mike Reilly made his return to the lineup on Sunday nearly four months after undergoing a heart procedure. He recorded an assist on Tsyplakov’s goal and skated 14:23 in his first game since Nov. 1.

“I tried to treat it like another game as much as I could,” Reilly said postgame. “I know my teammates had my back, they made it easy on me to come into a game after a few months off. It was very special, just the hard work and tough times to get to today.”

- Anders Lee recorded an assist on Sunday, tying Derek King for 13th in franchise history with 499 career points. With his 500th career point, he'll take sole possession of 13th place in club history.

- Marc Gatcomb scored his fourth goal of season with a wraparound goal on Sunday night on a line with Kyle MacLean and Hudson Fasching.

- Max Tsyplakov scored for the first time since Dec. 21. The Russian winger has 28 points (8G, 20A) in 61 points this season.

- Simon Holmstrom snapped a 12-game goal drought with an empty-net goal against Florida. His 15 goals on the season ties a career-high established last year.

- With two assists in Sunday’s win, Tony DeAngelo recorded his first multi-point game as an Islander.

- Anthony Duclair is expected to play in his 600^th NHL game on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

- The Islanders have a record of 14-15-5 on the road this season.

PENGUINS NOTES

- The Penguins are riding a four-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 18-9 over that span.

- Sidney Crosby leads the Pens in scoring with 73 points. With an assist in Saturday’s game, he eclipsed 50 assists for the 12^th time in his career. The assist also helped Crosby to reach 1,669 career points, which tied Wayne Gretzky for fourth most points with a single franchise.

- Rickard Rakell leads Pittsburgh with 31 goals, his most as a Penguin and highest goal total since he scored 34 goals with the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017-18 season.

- The Penguins mainly stocked up on draft picks before the NHL Trade Deadline. Notably, they dealt former Islander Anthony Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

- Pittsburgh owns the league’s eighth best power play (24.3%).

- Like the Islanders, who are the league’s top team in faceoffs (54.9%), the Penguins have also been strong in the dot this season as their faceoff win percentage (52.4%) ranks sixth in the NHL.

- The Penguins’ 3.55 GA/GP ranks 31^st in the NHL.