Game Preview: New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3/18/2025

The Pens meet up with a division rival hunting for a Wild Card spot.

Who: New York Islanders (30-28-8, 68 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (28-31-10, 66 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division)7

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Local broadcasts on SN-PIT and MSGSN, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens are back at PPG Paints Friday for another Metro division matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Opponent Track: The Islanders had lost three straight games heading into Sunday, when the team bounced back by scoring four straight goals in a 4-2 comeback win over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Season Series: The Islanders hold a 2-1 lead in the season series after the teams split a home-and-home back-to-back set at the end of the 2024 calendar year.

Hidden Stat: The losing streak wasn’t the only slump that ended for the Islanders with Sunday’s win over the Panthers:

Getting to know the Islanders

Projected lines (from Sunday’s game)

FORWARDS

Simon Holmstrom - Bo Horvat - Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Anthony Duclair

Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Hudson Fasching

Maxim Tsyplakov - Kyle MacLean - Marc Gatcomb

DEFENSEMEN

Alexander Romanov / Tony DeAngelo

Noah Dobson / Ryan Pulock

Scott Mayfield / Mike Reilly

Goalies: Ilya Sorokin, Marcus Hogberg

Scratches: Adam Pelech (day-to-day, lower body), Adam Boqvist (upper-body), Matt Martin, Scott Perunovich

IR: Mat Barzal, Semyon Varlamov

• Boqvist was injured during the Islanders’ Tuesday loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Pelech missed Sunday’s win over the Panthers with his own day-to-day injury.
• These injuries opened up a spot for Mike Reilly to slot into the lineup on Sunday for the first time since undergoing heart surgery in November. Reilly skated for more than 14 minutes and immediately made an impact by assisting on Maxim Tsyplakov’s tying third-period goal against the Panthers.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Ilya Sorokin was the star of the show on Sunday as his acrobatics kept the Panthers from tying things up with an empty-net man advantage. The Islanders starter hasn’t allowed more than three goals in any of his last six starts; he has a 3-2-1 record and .924 save percentage over the span.

• The Islanders are reportedly close to finalizing an extension with first-line winger Kyle Palmieri, per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. The 34-year-old is currently playing on an expiring $5 million AAV contract.

Checking in on the playoff race

The Islanders are significantly closer to the Penguins to stealing a postseason spot with a late-season surge. Here’s a look at the Wild Card picture as of Monday night. The Isles have three games in hand on the Pens:

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Danton Heinen - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino

Connor Dewar - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari

Boko Imama - Kevin Hayes - Emil Bemstrom

DEFENSEMEN

Vladislav Kolyachonok / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Conor Timmins

Goalies: Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential Scratches: Ryan Shea (upper body injury), Tommy Novak (lower body)

Injured Reserve: P.O. Joseph (upper body)

• No status change on the Pens’ three-injured players:

• Tristan Jarry has started, and won, four straight games. He spoke with NHL.com’s Wes Crosby after Saturday’s win over the Devils about what he’s been through this season:

“Obviously, I’ve had some highs and some lows this year. I think it’s been something that I’ve had to learn how to manage. It’s obviously been something different. I’ve never really gone through waivers in my career, so being able to kind of handle that, it took some time. It was something that I had to adjust to. And then, going down to Wilkes, I had to be that same person. I had to work hard. I had to be the same good person I am up here down there. I think that really helped. It helped my game, to be honest.”

• Jarry has an 11-4-1 record and .918 save percentage in 16 career games against the Islanders.