Islanders at Penguins
A familiar face looks to continue his torrid season on Saturday when Thomas Greiss and the New York Islanders visit the Metropolitan Division-rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Greiss, who bolted from the Steel City to Brooklyn as a free agent in the summer, is riding high with an 11-5-2 mark and .936 save percentage as he platoons with now-injured veteran Jaroslav Halak (upper body).
"Just battle, try your best and try everything you can to keep the puck out there," the 29-year-old Greiss said of his approach following a 42-save performance in a 2-1 victory over Buffalo on Thursday. While New York has answered a three-game skid by winning three of four to move into second place in the Metropolitan, Pittsburgh has bounced back from a five-game losing streak to post a 3-1-1 record. Captain Sidney Crosby has picked up the pace on the heels of a horrific start of the season, scoring in the Penguins' 5-2 win over Detroit on Thursday for his eighth point (three goals, five assists) in the last six games. The two-time Hart Trophy recipient has tormented the Islanders throughout his career (27 goals, 62 assists in 50 meetings), but New York has won four in a row versus Pittsburgh.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus2 (New York), TVA, Sportsnet, ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (21-12-5): Veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk misfired in his bid to lower the boom on Sabres rookie Jack Eichel and careened into the boards, suffering an upper-body injury in the process. The 31-year-old Boychuk was placed on injured reserve Friday by New York, which promptly recalled fellow blue-liner Adam Pelech from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. As for the defensive alignment, coach Jack Capuano didn't completely reveal his hand when he told Newsday that "It's going to be a little bit of an experiment going forward here."
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (18-15-4): Kris Letang collected two goals and an assist on Thursday as Pittsburgh improved to 17-8-3 with the stud defenseman in the lineup, as opposed to 1-7-1 without him. An offensive threat, Letang has recorded 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in the last 17 contests. Evgeni Malkin also registered three points versus the Red Wings and has 60 (23 goals, 37 assists) in 48 career meetings with the Islanders.
OVERTIME
1. New York LW Nikolay Kulemin has scored in three straight games after going 30 contests without a goal.
2. The Penguins converted twice on the power play on Thursday and have seven goals with the man advantage in the last six games.
3. The Islanders are vying for their third straight regular-season victory in Pittsburgh for the first time since winning four consecutive contests from December 1992-February 1994.