Islanders at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have rebounded from a mini-swoon with impressive victories over two of the league's top teams and will go for a third consecutive win when they host the New York Islanders on Friday night. The Penguins had lost four of five and scored only one goal in each of the defeats, but they have bounced back with a 3-1 home win at Anaheim before posting a 4-0 shutout at Washington. One of Pittsburgh's three home losses came at the hands of the Islanders last month.
New York is tumbling down the Metropolitan Division standings after dropping six of its last eight, including a 5-2 loss at Toronto on Tuesday night that stretched its road losing streak to five games. One issue for the Islanders is an inability to finish strongly - the team has been outscored 17-4 in the third period of its last 12 games. "We have a lot to prove still and we're still a growing team and we need to find our game on a consistent level," captain John Tavares said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (8-11-3): A groin injury to starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has led to a heavy workload for Kevin Poulin, who will make his sixth consecutive start and will already match his career high (10) for appearances in a season. "He's got an opportunity to play some more games," New York coach Jack Capuano said. "Just knowing him and the way he is, he's going take this opportunity and make the most of it." Left wing Thomas Vanek is expected to return to the lineup after missing the past five games with an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (14-8-0): Star center Evgeni Malkin is mired in the longest drought of his brilliant career, failing to score a goal in his past 15 games. Still, the former 50-goal scorer is managing to have a major impact, collecting two assists in each of the past two contests and 12 in nine games this month to give him 19 on the season. Captain Sidney Crosby appears to be emerging from his own funk, scoring a goal in back-to-back contests after registering only one in his previous 10 games to reclaim the league lead with 28 points.
OVERTIME
1. Malkin has 19 goals and 30 assists in 40 games against the Islanders.
2. C Casey Cizikas has scored in three straight for New York, which has only eight goals during its five-game skid away from home.
3. The Islanders rank last in the league on the penalty kill with a 71.6 percent success rate.