First place in the Metropolitan Division will be on the line when the Penguins will travel to Long Island to complete their home-and-home series with the New York Islanders. The Penguins are 1-0-1 in the second half of back-to-back games this season.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The only change for the Islanders from Friday night’s 5-4 shootout victory will be in net.
Jaroslav Halak will take over for Chad Johnson. Halak is 8-4 with a .914 save percentage on the season.
The Islanders got scoring from all throughout their lineup on Friday. The top unit of Brock Nelson, John Tavares, and Nikolay Kulemin were held to one goal; an outstanding individual play by Kulemin.
The rest of the lineup chipped in, as third-line center Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists and fourth-line winger Matt Martin recorded his first goal of the season.
GREISS IS THE WORD: Thomas Greiss will start in goal for the Penguins. In three games this season, he has a .938 save percentage, and a 1.96 goals against average. In three career games against the Islanders, he has a 1-0 record and a .935 save percentage.
PAIRING OFF: Simon Despres found a seat in the press box on Friday night, after Robert Bortuzzo sat out the previous game. With Olli Maatta healthy, the Penguins now have seven defensemen and only six roster spots.
“We made a decision, with seven healthy defensemen, to but [Bortuzzo] back in the lineup [Friday],” Penguins head coach Mike Johnston said. “A lot of our defense have been playing well, and I don’t want to keep anybody sitting for an extended period of time.”
BELOW THE BELT: Penguins center Evgeni Malkin was felled by a knee-on-knee hit by Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuck in the waning moments of Friday night’s game.
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Malkin was able to return to the game for overtime.
LIQUID HOT: The Penguins recalled forward Jayson Megna from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League before the game. Megna has nine goals and three assists in 17 AHL games this season. Seven of his goals have come in his past eight games. Megna played in 36 games with Pittsburgh last season, scoring five goals and four assists. Megna will wear sweater number 59.
MINOR MATTERS: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (11-7-1) defeated the Albany Devils 5-1 on Friday night. Dominic Uher, Scott Wilson, Josh Archibald, Brian Dumoulin, and Megna all scored for the AHL Penguins. Jeff Zatkoff made 14 saves and earned the win. WBS hosts Manchester tonight at 7:05 p.m.
The Wheeling Nailers (6-5) are playing at Elmira tonight at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
