Game Preview: Islanders at Penguins
The Islanders look to rebound after suffering a loss to the Penguins on Thursday
By
Sasha Kandrach
The New York Islanders look to get back in the win column on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena as they play a rematch against the very team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, that handed them their first regulation loss in nine games on Wednesday night.
The Islanders and Penguins will meet for the fourth of six meetings during the month of February as the East Division rivals go head-to-head for the second-straight game. Pittsburgh earned its first regulation win of the season series and improved its series edge to 1-1-1 as they defeated the Islanders 4-1 on Thursday. Brock Nelson scored the Islanders sole goal of the game on the power play, while Semyon Varlamov returned in net and made 33 saves.
The Penguins scoring was driven by Sidney Crosby, Teddy Blueger, Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust, while Tristan Jarry backstopped the win with 31 saves.
"We just didn't execute, we got caught in our end a little bit," Head Coach Barry Trotz said following Friday's practice. "There's momentum swings in the game. I thought we had good momentum, then they started to surge and we needed to respond...We didn't make it hard enough for their goalie last night."
As the game unfolded, there was no hesitation from either side in sharing a few exchanges, namely a fight between Casey Cizikas and Brandon Tanev, a 'vicious crosscheck' that sent Mathew Barzal into the boards by Mike Matheson and a late exchange by Scott Mayfield and Evgeni Malkin in front of the benches. Given the frequency these two rivals have seen of each other as of late, while equally in the midst of a contentious battle for precious points in the standings, the animosity is to be expected.
"Starting to see these guys more and more, both sides get sick of seeing one another," Anders Lee said. If you play enough hockey, these kinds of things are going to happen. Look, we're both playing for position in the standings and throughout the season. Considering how much we see them, momentum was in that series as well. It's expected. It's what makes this game fun and exciting and hard."
ISLANDERS NOTES:
• With the loss, the Islanders' point streak ended at eight games 5-0-3. During that span, Barzal recorded 11 points (4G, 7A), Josh Bailey totaled eight points (1G, 7A), Jean-Gabriel Pageau picked up seven points (5G, 2A), Lee posted six points (4G, 2A) and Nick Leddy compiled five points (1G, 4A). Between the pipes, Varlamov made five-straight starts and played in six of the eight games while Ilya Sorokin played in two, and earned his first-career win and first-career shutout against Buffalo on Feb. 16.
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• Nelson's tally on the power play marked his fourth goal of the season and second goal in the last three games. All four of Nelson's goals this season have been conversions on the power play. Through 16 games, the center has seven points (4G, 3A).
• With an assist on Nelson's goal, Bailey extended his personal point streak to three games with five points, all assists, during that stretch. Bailey is now tied with Leddy for the second-most assists on the Islanders leaderboard this season, each with eight, behind only Barzal's nine helpers. Through 16 games, Bailey has registered nine points (1G, 8A).
• Leddy extended his individual point streak to three games with an assist on Nelson's goal. The defenseman has three assists in as many games and leads the team in power-play points with five (1G, 4A). Through 16 games this season, Leddy has totaled nine points (1G, 8A), the most among the Islanders blueline.
• Varlamov made his 12th start of the season, while his record dropped to 7-3-2. The Russian netminder has a 1.99 GAA and a .930 SV%. His three shutouts this season are still tied with Anaheim's John Gibson for the most across the league.
• Barzal reached the 250 games played milestone on Thursday night. The 23-year-old center has skated in 248-consecutive games.
• Lee skated in his 284th-consecutive game and moved up the Islanders all-time leaderboard to tie Matt Moulson for the third-longest ironman streak in franchise history behind Billy Harris (576) and Bobby Nystrom (301).
• Kieffer Bellows drew into the lineup in place of Michael Dal Colle. Bellows skated alongside Nelson and Jordan Eberle, but ended the game with Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom. The winger logged 7:47 with three hits and no shots on goal.
• The Islanders didn't score a goal until the third period on Thursday. The Islanders are 7-1-1 when scoring first and are 1-4-2 when allowing the opening goal.
Practice 2/19: Barry Trotz
PENGUINS NOTES:
• Crosby scored his sixth goal of the season and now is tied with linemate Bryan Rust for the team lead. Crosby also skated in his 999th career NHL game on Thursday and is poised to reach the impressive 1,000 game milestone in Saturday's rematch against the Islanders. This season, the Penguins captain has totaled 13 points (6G, 7A) through 15 games. In his last five games, Crosby has as many points (2G, 3A).
• Blueger scored his third goal of the season, which served as the game-winner. The center now has nine points (3G, 6A) through 15 games.
• With an assist on Blueger's goal, Zach Aston-Reese extended his point streak to four games. Since making his season debut - after recovering from an offseason upper-body injury - the center has four points (3G, 1A) in as many games.
• With a two-point (1G, 1A) outing, Zucker lit the lamp for the fourth time this season. The winger now has seven points (4G, 3A) in 15 games.
• Rust iced the game with an empty-net goal as he scored his sixth goal of the season. In his last five games, the winger has four goals and eight points during that span. Through 15 games this season, Rust has totaled a team-best 15 points (6G, 9A).
• Malkin posted two assists on Thursday night bringing his season total to nine points (3G, 6A) through 15 games.
• Jarry made his third-straight start between the pipes and improved his record to 4-5-1. The 25-year-old netminder has a 3.44 GAA and a .886 SV%.
Update: Tristan Jarry will start in net for the Penguins tonight as confirmed by Head Coach Mike Sullivan.
