Islanders at Penguins
While the Pittsburgh Penguins were about to put the finishing touches on a perfect four-game road trip, a surrounding neighborhood of the Steel City found itself as the scene of an attack as 11 people were killed and six others injured in a shooting at Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue. The Penguins will play their first home game since the attack on Tuesday when they open a home-and-home series against the visiting New York Islanders.
"(We) try to play for the city, as we always do, but especially in times like this," captain Sidney Crosby said on Monday. "It's a terrible thing that happened and we're thinking about everyone involved. Hopefully we can do all we can to help and support them right now." The two-time Hart Trophy winner was named the NHL Star of the Week after scoring twice in Saturday's 5-0 romp in Vancouver to give him five goals and three assists during his four-game point streak. While Pittsburgh posted a pair of shutouts and outscored its foes by a 23-6 margin on the lengthy trek, New York aims to follow in the footsteps of its Metropolitan Division rival as it bids for a sweep of its road trip on Tuesday. Captain Anders Lee and fellow forward Josh Bailey extended their respective point streaks to four and five games, respectively, as the former deflected the latter's feed for a power-play goal in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Carolina.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Sportsnet1, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (5-4-1): Mathew Barzal was held off the scoresheet on Sunday for just the third time this season, although the reigning Calder Trophy winner scored and set up a goal in a 4-1 triumph over Pittsburgh on March 20. Lee also tallied in that contest and matched Barzal with two goals and an assist in the season series versus the Penguins. Robin Lehner struggled in a pair of starts against Pittsburgh last season (0-1-1, 4.49 goals-against average) while fellow goaltender Thomas Greiss could draw the nod after turning aside 38 shots versus the Hurricanes to record his 100th career win.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (6-1-2): Matt Murray answered a rough start in which he surrendered 11 goals in the first two contests of the season with two strong outings during his three starts on the road trip. "It was a great road trip in every way, I think. We got all the points that were on the table and we had some fun at the same time," the 24-year-old Murray said. Pittsburgh certainly is having fun with the league's top-ranked offense (4.4 goals per game) and fifth-best power play (29.2) heading into its tilt with New York, against which the Penguins won three of four meetings last season and five of the last six home encounters overall.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin continued his torrid stretch on Saturday by scoring two goals and setting up another to extend his point streak to seven games, during which he has four tallies and 11 assists.
2. New York has won its last five games versus Metropolitan Division rivals dating to last season.
3. A moment of silence will be observed before Tuesday's game and a special collection will be held to benefit victims and families of Saturday's shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.