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The New York Islanders try to return to NHL-.500 with an unenviable task: Facing the Stanley Cup champion {spits} Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh after laying an egg at home against the Canadiens (warning: Scoreline in mirror may be more disparate than it appears) the night before.
Good news, though: after only really showing up for 20 minutes (except for Thomas Greiss), the Isles should be well rested anyway! And they should be excited to play for the first* time at [Paints or points per game or something] Arena!
*under its latest obfuscating corporate temporary name
Jaroslav Halak is expected in goal, the rest of the lineup decisions (Matthew Barzal again? Or is Nikolai Kulemin ready? And how’s Anthony Beauvillier after that shot off the knee last night?) were due when coach Jack Capuano speaks to media before the game.
Check @StapeNewsday and @NYIslanders for those updates, expected after 5 p.m. EDT.
You can catch this one on MSG+, 103.9 FM and 88.7 FM if you’re local enough. Our opposition blog on SB Nation is PensBurgh.
The Penguins are, well, like Mike Sullivan yelled at practice yesterday. So there’s that. They are 4-2-1 and coming off a 3-2 win over the Panthers. They’re fine. They should be scary. Even if the Good Islanders show up for this one, the odds are against them.
FIG Picks
Leave your First Islanders Goals picks here by game time, which is 7 p.m.