The New York Islanders take to western Pennsylvania for what hopes to be the last time this season as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins with the opportunity for their first series sweep since their Stanley Cup dynasty days. The Penguins haven’t looked stellar at all this series - the Islanders have limited their scoring chances, the Penguins have failed to capitalize on those opportunities, they’ve shown a lack of discipline and taken far too many penalties, have had lackluster goaltending, and have just been outclassed by an Islanders team which has played much better hockey throughout this series. As a result, they could be golfing as early as tonight much to the surprise of everyone.
Robin Lehner will once again man the pipes tonight. He’ll square off against Matt Murray for the fourth time this series. Lehner has severely outclassed Murray who has been mediocre at best and it’s a bit surprising that he wasn’t benched for Casey DeSmith.
No changes are expected for tonight’s lineup. There isn’t much of a reason to change anything heading into this one as they hope for the aforementioned sweep. We don’t think any of the guys in the press box mind.
Game time is at 7:30 P.M. E.S.T.