Game Preview: New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins 12/29/2024

Who: New York Islanders (14-15-7, 35 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (16-16-5, 37 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 5:30 p.m. ET

Here’s how to watch: Broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh and MSG Sportsnet for local markets, streaming on ESPN+

The path of the pens lies before us: The Pens travel to Detroit on New Year’s Eve (lucky them…) and then get a few days off before the next part of their road swing takes them to Florida on Friday, January 3rd and then to Carolina a week from today sends (what will be on January 5th)

Enemy bar: After wrapping up a home game with the Pens tonight, the Islanders get another home game next week against Toronto. That starts on Tuesday in Canada before heading back to the island next Thursday.

Season series: The Pens lost 4-3 to the Islanders in their first game on November 5th. The second game was last night, a 6-3 decision for NYI. The last game after tonight will be March 18 in Pittsburgh.

Get to know the islanders

Projected lines

FORWARD

Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Anthony Duclair-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri

Maxim Tsyplakov – Bo Horvat – Simon Holmstrom

Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Hudson Mardi Gras

DEFENDER

Alexander Romanov / Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech / Ryan Pulock

Isaiah George/Scott Mayfield

Goalkeeper: Ilya Sorokin, Marcus Hoberg

Possible scratches: Matt Martin, Pierre Engvall, Dennis Cholowski

IR: Mike Reilly, Semyon Varlamov

—It will be interesting to get through the break with the Isles putting a heavy load on Sorokin. Sorokin only saw 25 shots last night, and his backup is third-team in the organization. Goalkeepers don’t usually play back-to-back, but if there has ever been a situation and circumstance that breaks that tradition, this could be it.

Player stats

(above hockeydb)

– No strong scorers, no great goalie, it’s no wonder the temperature is rising regarding the coach’s (and even GM’s) status as a last-place team has fallen short of playoff expectations so far in the first half of the season is.

“That means there’s still time to turn things around, but the clock is ticking.” A win today would give NYI three wins in the last four rounds, and then they could be pretty confident that they’re just about to turn things around create an upswing for their season. They need one to get started as quickly as possible if they want to go somewhere.

And now to the pens

Projected lines

FORWARD

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Michael Bunting – Evgeni Malkin – Drew O’Connor

Anthony Beauvillier – Cody Glass – Philip Tomasino

Matt Nieto – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENDER

PO Joseph / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves/Ryan Shea

Goalkeeper: Alex Nedeljkovic (Tristan Jarry played yesterday)

Possible scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Kevin Hayes, Nathan Clurman

IR: Marcus Pettersson, Owen Pickering

– Like lately, the goaltending situation appears to be at another crossroads for the Pens. Nedeljkovic has only started two of the team’s 11 games in December. He was relegated to the bench so Jarry could receive the ball and try to run with it, but the B-2-B should mean a rare opportunity of late for Nedeljkovic to get back there.