Game Preview: Islanders vs Penguins

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (27-23-7) VS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (27-17-9)
7 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
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The New York Islanders will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in a pivotal matchup as the race for an Eastern Conference wild card spot continues to tighten.
The Islanders (61 points) are chasing the Penguins (63 points), who currently hold the first wild card spot in the East. The teams will meet twice in the next four days, offering the Islanders a chance to pull even, or ahead of the Pens, though Pittsburgh has four games in-hand on the Isles.
"They're a team we're chasing," Hudson Fasching said on Thursday. "We have them two in the next three. They're huge games, we have to raise the intensity and find a way to win."

The Islanders are 11-5-3 in their last 19 home games against the Penguins, including a 5-1 win at UBS Arena on Dec. 27. Anders Lee (2G), Mathew Barzal (2G) and Josh Bailey (1G, 1A) powered the offense for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves on 22 shots to stave off Pittsburgh.
"I thought we did a pretty good job through the neutral zone and making sure that we controlled their speed," Head Coach Lane Lambert said of the 5-1 win. "And we'll have to do that again. They're very fast team, a very good team. We'll have to make sure we continue to do that."

The Islanders are coming of a 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders in regulation to match goals from Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk. After a scoreless overtime, the Islanders failed to score in the shootout, while Stützle (game-deciding goal) and Drake Batherson found the back of the net for the two points. The Islanders' winless speech reached three games, picking up two of a possible six points across three losses.
The Penguins are coming off a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday to wrap up a three-game road trip, going 2-1-0 over that span and lifting their road record to 12-11-5. Rickard Rakell (1G, 2A) and Jake Guentzel (2G) powered the offense for Pittsburgh, while Timo Meier scored the lone goal for San Jose.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• The Islanders are in the mix for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Capitals (62 points) and the Penguins (63 points) occupy both wild card spots, heightening the importance of Friday's showdown between against the Penguins.
  - Jean-Gabriel Pageau was placed on IR (retroactive to Feb. 11) with an upper-body injury after the center missed Tuesday's matchup against his former club, the Ottawa Senators.
  - Andy Andreoff skated with the team on Thursday morning for practice following his recall from the Bridgeport Islanders, where he leads the team in goals (20). The 31-year-old center has played with the Islanders in training camp and made six appearances in the 2021-22 season.
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  - Brock Nelson is riding a career-long 11-game point streak, with 13 points (7G, 6A) over that span, becoming the first Islander since Josh Bailey reached that benchmark in 2017.
  "He brings it all the time, day in, day out," Bailey said of Nelson. "He's a big leader for us, he's one of those guys who you can always rely on in any situation."
  - Mathew Barzal netted a pair of goals in a 5-1 win on Dec. 27, tacking onto his 20 career points (7G, 13A) over 23 games played against Pittsburgh.
  - Zach Parise is expected to play his 1,200th game on Friday night. Parise is 13th in the NHL in games played among active players.
  "1200 games [is] impressive," Lambert said of the veteran winger. "It's a testament to his commitment to the game and to his craft. We see it every day."
  - The Islanders are 16-10-3 at home this season.
  - The Islanders power play ranks fifth in the NHL since the All-Star break (33.3%), going 5-for-15 over the span of their last five games.

PENGUINS NOTES:

• The Penguins wrap up their road trip with a visit to Long Island on Friday night, before heading home to enter a three-game homestand, which includes a visit from the Islanders on Monday night for the penultimate game of the season series.
  - Jake Guentzel scored two goals in Tuesday's 3-1 win, including the game-winner. The 28-year-old winger has six game-winning goals on the season, tied for fifth in the NHL.
  - Sidney Crosby has 17 points through his last 11 games and leads the Penguins in goals (24), assists (41) and points (65). Crosby recorded 128 total points (40G, 88A) over 79 games played against the Islanders in his career.
  - The Penguins have three players scoring at a point-per-game in Crosby (65 points in 53 games), Guentzel (49 points in 49 games) and Evgeni Malkin (54 points in 53 games).
  - According to Head Coach Mike Sullivan, Ryan Poehling and Mark Friedman are dealing with upper-body injuries and are being evaluated. Poehling was a last-minute scratch ahead of Tuesday's matchup against the Sharks because of the lingering injury.
  - Tristan Jarry will make the trip to New York; however, it's unclear when the 27-year-old netminder will make his return from an injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 22.
  - Casey DeSmith made seven straight starts in lieu of Jarry's injury, going 3-2-1 over that span along with a .901 save percentage.