New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins [Round 1, Game 4 thread]

The New York Islanders have a chance to either even their first-round series or watch it fall to the precipice as they play Game 4 in front of a growing and well-tailgate-fueled crowd at Nassau Coliseum.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had the better of play through much of the series — moreso than several Islanders-leaning underlying stats indicate, I’d argue. But so much of our lens comes down to goaltending and playing with the lead, or without it.

The Islanders have barely led in this series, and Game 3 was marked by multiple times trailing and tying it only to concede yet another go-ahead goal soon after.

With all that in mind, it sure sounded like Game 1 winner Ilya Sorokin was going to get the start in place of Semyon Varlamov today. But Barry Never Tells, so all we got was the standard “a Russian goalie will start.” (This time he helpfully added a “left catching” one.)

There was the possibility of other lineup tweaks, but Trotz would only say that the same 22 players would take warmups.

If you’re watching from home, know that this one is on NBC in the U.S., and we’ll get an extra later-than-listed start time. Last weekend, the “noon” game didn’t start until almost 12:30. Today, expect this “3 p.m.” game to not get underway until around 3:20 EDT.

Please, please, Isles, make this a joyous Saturday night.