Game 10 Preview: Penguins Vs. Islanders
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Penguins will put their three-game win streak on the line when they go on the road to take on the New York Islanders Tuesday night.
The last time the Penguins lost was a week ago against this same Islanders team and it was not pretty.
Pittsburgh looked flat all game long and the Islanders easily skated to a 4-1 win at the Consol Energy Center.
Despite outshooting the Islanders 38-24, the Penguins failed to generate much sustained offense and when they did, Evgeni Nabokov was there to thwart it.
Overall, it's a game the Penguins would like to forget.
Since then, the Penguins have looked much better in wins over the Rangers, Devils and Capitals.
The Islanders come into tonight's game sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division and are three points behind the Penguins.
John Tavares has continued to sustain his hot start to the season and leads the team with 11 points (four goals and seven assists).
Tavares is tied with Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner and Keith Aucoin for the team lead in goals with four.
In goal, Nabokov (4-2-1, 2.99 GAA, .908 save percentage) has played well early on this season. With last week's win over the Pens, Nabokov is now 10-2 with a 1.70 GAA and .942 save percentage against Pittsburgh in his career.
For Pittsburgh, secondary scoring has picked up over the past three games and Sidney Crosby appears to have found his game legs again.
Crosby had six points over the weekend (one goal, five assists) and now leads the Penguins with 13 (four goals, nine assists).
Chris Kunitz had a monster weekend and scored four goals against the Capitals on Sunday. He now leads the team with six and is only two points behind Crosby.
Evgeni Malkin may not be finding the back of the net as much as he would like with only two goals through nine games, but his 10 assists are more than making up for it.
In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury (3-2, 2.53 GAA, .897 save percentage) would obviously like to have a better result against the Islanders tonight. He allowed four goals on 17 shots a week ago, before being relegated to the bench after the second period. However, the team did not play well in front of him and he ended up being the victim.
Against the Islanders, he is 17-7-1-3 with a 2.56 GAA and .914 save percentage. He has also shut out the Islanders four times.
The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. and you can watch on Root Sports.
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