A preview of the Islanders.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., Mellon Arena.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Plus.
Record: 26-44-9, 61 points. New York is in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and 15th place in the Eastern Conference.
Leading Scorer: Mark Streit, 55 points (16 goals, 39 assists).
Last Game: 9-0 road loss at Carolina Tuesday. Joey MacDonald made 41 saves and lost. It was the worst defeat in Islanders history.
Last Game against the Penguins: 1-0 road loss Feb. 25. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves in the shutout while Petr Sykora scored the game's only goal.
Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Doug Weight (right, with Sidney Crosby). He has four points (two goals, two assists) in three games against the Penguins this season.
Ex-Penguins: Eric Cairns, assistant, player development; John Chabot,
assistant coach; Andy Hilbert, LW; Kurtis McLean, RW; Richard Park, RW; Jon Sim, LW; Garth Snow, general
manager; Bryan Trottier, director of player development. (McLean was a former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin but never played with the NHL club.)
Ex-Islanders on the Penguins: Dan Bylsma, head coach; Ruslan Fedotenko, LW; Tom Fitzgerald, assistant coach; Eric Godard, RW; Bill Guerin, RW; Miroslav Satan, RW.
Useless Islanders Trivia: Bill Guerin is one of two players to have worn No. 13 in the history of the Islanders. The other was Claude Lapointe.
Best Islanders YouTube
Video We Could Find: Christy Brinkley is an Islander:
Notes:
-Some guy named Mathieu Garon (7-9-0, 3.25 GAA, .912) is expected to start in net for the Penguins. Joey MacDonald (14-25-6, 3.31 GAA, .903 SV%) is expected to be in goal for New York.
-Some other dude called Philippe Boucher is going to play for the Penguins tonight also. He's a defenseman or something.
-Things have changed quite a bit for Bill Guerin (right) since he left the Islanders. First and foremost, we assume he's not threatening to beat up any children in the Pittsburgh area. Yet.
-Islanders coach Scott Gordon will serve as an assistant coach for the United States in the IIHF World Championships.
-A loss tonight guarantees New York one of the top two picks in this years' draft.
-The Islanders are without forward goaltender Rick DiPietro (knee), forward Kurtis McLean (Achilles tendon); defenseman Freddy Meyer (groin), Mike Sillinger (hip), defenseman Andy Sutton (foot). Forwards Andy Hilbert (ribs) and Kyle Okposo (groin) are day-to-day.
-The Penguins will hold their team awards ceremony prior to the game tonight. Fans are asked to be in their seats by 7:25 p.m.
-Additionally, the players will give their jerseys to 23 random fans following the game.
-Donations will be collected for the Fallen Heroes Fund in honor of Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo, II, the three Pittsburgh Police officers who were killed in Stanton Heights Saturday.
-According to KDKA-TV, the Penguins will wear t-shirts under their jerseys in honor of the late officers.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6:30 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Weight-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Guerin-Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Posted
Apr 09 2009, 05:17 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh