The Pens will take on the Islanders tonight at 7pm in the Consol Energy Center.
The Pens are 47-22-6 with a 4th place seed in the Eastern Conference at 100 points. They can overtake the Rangers (101 points) with a win and if the Wild beat the Rangers tonight.
The Islanders are 31-33-11 in 14th place for the Eastern Conference with 73 points. There chance of getting to the playoffs is almost impossible with being eleven points behind the 8th place Washington and 9th place Buffalo. A loss tonight would officially puts them out of the playoff hunt. That would be their 5th straight year out of the playoffs.
They are not going down without a fight. They fought for a shootout win on Sunday against the Panthers to get a much needed two points.
Even with their struggles their top line has been producing. Mouslon, Tavares, and Parenteau have been carrying the team with accounting for 81 of the Islanders 173 goals. That is 46%.
They have had goal tending trouble with using five different net-minders. Now they have got steady goal tending as of late from Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya. Both splitting the work load in the net. Nobokov may be in the net tonight coming off a win over the Panthers and a record of 8-2 in his career against the Pens.
Tavares has put the team on his shoulders. He has achieved personal best with 31 goals, 44 assist, and 75 points in 75 games this season. he has become the first Islander since Alexi Vashin to record over 70 points in a season.
As aslways the Pens are not without their own weapons and great depth all around.
Duper has been in the zone this season. With ten seasons in the NHL under his belt, he is having the best year yet. He currently has a ten game point streak going, career high and the longest active streak in the NHL. He has 23 goals and 50 points so far this season. He now has a career best in points with his previous high of 48 points with the Wild in the 2002-03 season.
Pens with a win tonight they will have a ten game home winning streak, which is a season high. The Pens have been dominating at home all season long.
Sid has been coming on stronger and putting pucks into the net with some flair. I look forward to seeing what he does tonight against the Islanders.
Geno has been on fire and definitely should be considered for the Hart. He wants get to 50 goals this season. I look for him to come up big for the Pens.
Hopefully Flower is in the net, so he can get closer to Barrasso's franchise records. He has been solid for the Pens in the net and showed that he is an elite goalie in the NHL. We all already knew that, but now the rest of the NHL can recognize that he is an elite goal tender.
Johnson with a undisclosed injury
Vitale with upper body injury (day-to-day)
Tanger with lower body injury (day-to-day)
Lovejoy with a knee surgery (out 4-6 weeks)
Niskanen with upper body injury (day-to-day)
Rick DiPietro with sports hernia/knee swelling
LETS GO PENS!!!