Playoff Gameday: Islanders Game 2 Lines, Matchups and Game Notes vs. Pens

Will the New York Islanders be able to take a commanding series lead back to Long Island? We’ll soon find out when the puck drops on Game 2 at PPG Paints Arena between the Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Islanders took Game 1 of the First Round series on Sunday in dramatic fashion in overtime. Kyle Palmieri became the first Islander in team history to score an overtime goal in his first playoff game for the team. Palmieri scored twice on Sunday against Pittsburgh.

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The heroics of Palmieri were nothing new to Andy Greene, who played with Palmieri in New Jersey previously.

“As each game goes on he gets more comfortable and more confident,” Greene said. “The last little bit he’s had a lot of chances and it was great to see him go in there on Sunday. He plays a hard game, a physical game, he gets in there and it was good to see him get rewarded for that.”

The New York Islanders are hoping for another strong effort from Palmieri and the rest of the lineup for that matter tonight. Nothing will change for the Islanders when it comes to the lineup, Islanders head coach Barry Trotz confirmed this morning after the team skated.

Trotz didn’t tip his hand over who would start in goal tonight either, saying that Semyon Varlamov was available and that a Russian goalie would be in net. However, Ilya Sorokin was seeing practice in a net all to himself this morning.

Islanders Need to Capitalize on Tristan Jarry’s Weaknesses Again in Game 2

This is the second consecutive playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins the Islanders have found themselves ahead after winning Game 1 in dramatic fashion. In 2019, the Islanders won Game 1 in overtime against Pittsburgh and then handed them a regulation loss the following game.

The New York Islanders are drawing on past experiences to help them stay focused on just one game at a time.

“As the years pass and you get more opportunities like this, you learn from them,” Brock Nelson said. “Being so close last year, you learn from that and try to use that in any way as motivation or knowledge in how to react in different situations. We also have staff and Lou, guys that have been around. They’ve pretty much seen it all and they know what the game is about.

Tristan Jarrry will be in net for Pittsburgh in Game 2 and Evgeni Malkin and Brian Dumoulin are game-time decisions for tonight. Backup goalie Casey DeSmith will not dress for tonight’s game either.

New York Islanders Lineup (Projected)

Leo Komarov — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle

Anthony Beauvillier — Brock Nelson — Josh Bailey

Kyle Palmieri — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Nick Leddy — Scott Mayfield

Andy Greene — Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin

Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup (Projected)

Jake Guentzel — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust

Jared McCann — Jeff Carter — Kasperi Kapanen

Jason Zucker — Frederick Gaudreau — Evan Rodrigues

Zach Aston-Reese — Teddy Blueger — Brandon Tanev

Brian Dumoulin — Kris Letang

Mike Matheson — Cody Ceci

Marcus Pettersson — John Marino

Tristan Jarry

Maxime Lagace

Game Notes

Pittsburgh is 31-28 all-time at PPG Paints Arena in playoff contests. They are 5-0-1 at home after any type of loss this season. … Pittsburgh has a 15-16 all-time series record when trailing 1-0 in a best-of-seven series, which includes an 8-7 series record when starting at home. … Since Sidney Crosby entered the league in 2005-06, no team has more playoff wins than Pittsburgh’s 98. The next closest team is the Boston Bruins with 84 wins. … The Islanders have an all-time playoff record of 162-133 and are 18-12 all-time against Pittsburgh in the postseason. … With Sunday’s win, the Islanders improved to 5-0 in playoff games against Pittsburgh under Head Coach Barry Trotz, including 3-0 in Pittsburgh. … In every series that the Islanders have won un head coach Barry Trotz, they have won Game 1.

How to Watch

Locally tonight’s game can be viewed on MSG and MSG+. Nationally the game will air on NBCSN. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 98.7 FM ESPN New York, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.