Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz will not be in the lineup after leaving Pittsburgh's 4-3 loss against the New York Rangers twice on Tuesday because of a lower-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve Thursday. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Schultz is expected to miss a couple of weeks. Pittsburgh is 4-1-0 in its past five games following a three-game losing streak. The Islanders won't have defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who is recovering from an undisclosed injury. New York coach Doug Weight said he was not sure how he would replace Boychuk in his lineup Thursday. Boychuk's injury isn't believed to be serious, Weight said. The Islanders are 1-2-0 in their past three games after going 7-1-0 in their previous eight games.
Players to watch
Islanders center John Tavares has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past nine games, including five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak. Penguins forward Phil Kessel has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past seven games. He leads Pittsburgh with 13 goals and 34 points.
They said it
"[The Penguins are] just a heck of a hockey club. I think everybody hates good hockey clubs. We hope more teams want to hate us." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight "We're going to expect kind of a hungry team and a team that's playing pretty well right now. These divisional games are pretty important." -- Penguins forward Conor Sheary
Cizikas will return after missing four games with a lower-body injury. He'll likely replace Quine, who won't play with an undisclosed injury, at fourth-line center. … Murray skated in full pads and took shots from Penguins goalie coach Mike Buckley before the morning skate Thursday. Murray has missed three games.
Stat pack
Leddy is second in scoring among NHL defensemen with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists). … Hornqvist's six-game point streak (four goals, four assists) is his longest in four seasons with Pittsburgh.
