About the Islanders - 03-29-12

A preview of the Islanders.

When and where: 7 p.m., EDT; Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

TV: Root Sports, MSG Plus.

Record: 32-33-11, 75 points. The Islanders are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: John Tavares, 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists).

Last Game: 5-3 road win, Tuesday. Jame Neal scored two goals for the Penguins.

Last Game against the Penguins: Ditto.

Islanders Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Kyle Okposo (right). He has four points in his past two games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Islanders: Mark Eaton, D; Matt Moulson, LW (Moulson was a Penguins draft pick but never played for the organization); Garth Snow, general manager.

Ex-Islanders on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Dan Bylsma, head coach; Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Bill Guerin, player development coach; Richard Park, RW.

Useless Islanders Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Moulson (269) is one of four players drafted by the Penguins in the 2003 draft who have played at least 100 games. The others are Marc-Andre Fleury (430), Blackhawks left winger Daniel Carcillo (310) and Coyotes left winger Paul Bissonnette (135)..

Best Islanders Video We Could Find: Former Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis with the shift of his life. While as a member of the Islanders in 1995-96, he managed to hit Kings center Wayne Gretzky and score off a rebound against goaltender Kelly Hrudey:

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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (41-15-4, 2.30 GAA, .915 SV%) for the Penguins and Al Montoya (7-7-5, 2.73 GAA, .906 SV%) for the Islanders.

Injuries: For the Penguins, goaltender defensemen Kris Letang ("lower body"), Matt Niskanen ("upper body") and center Joe Vitale ("upper body") are day to day. Defenseman Ben Lovejoy (knee) is out. For the Islanders, goaltender Evgeni Nabokov ("lower body") is day to day. Goaltender Rick DiPietro (sports hernia/knee) is on injured reserve.

Potential Lines and defensive Pairings: The Penguins' had an optional skate today. Their primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Steve Sullivan - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Richard Park - Craig Adams - Arron Asham

-According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, the Islanders expected lines and defensive pairings are

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau
Joshua Bailey - Frans Neilsen - Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner - Casey Cizikas - Nino Niederreiter
Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Jay Pandolfo

Mark Streit - Dylan Reese
Travis Hamonic - Andrew MacDonald
Milan Jurcina - Steve Staios

Notes:

-The last time the Penguins played the Islanders, this happened:

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-Welcome back Brent Johnson. (PG+)

-Brad Thiessen was demoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. (PG+)

-Fleury needs one win to tie Tom Barrasso's franchise record of 226 career wins.

-A regulation loss would officially elminate the Islanders from postseason contention.

-Crosby has 597 career points.

-Orpik has 99 career assists.

-Kunitz has 147 career goals and 197 career assists.

-Dupuis has a 11-game scoring streak.

-With Nabokov dinged up, the Islanders recalled goaltender Kevin Poulin from Bridgeport of the AHL and signed free agent goaltender John Grahame.

-Streit has 199 career assists.

-Hamonic has 47 career points.

-Tavares has 196 career points.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 6:45 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)