For the past four games Penguins fans have been saying, "this is a must win game." Well, allow me to reiterate. This is a must win game.
A team can drop four in a row in their division this early in the season and still make it back before the playoffs, but it doesn't make life much easier. Plus, when the Penguins have a team like the Rangers winning seven of their last eight, the gap only widens with each and every failed division victory.
Tonight the Penguins are hoping to change that as they take on the Islanders in front of the home crowd. If anything, this small run at the end of the month is the perfect opportunity for the Pens to rebound and hopefully reach .500 before December. Out of the next seven games, six of them are at home. The Pens are 3-6 in front of the home crowd this season and 1-6 overall this month.
A few rosters changes may just be the thing to help the Penguins redirect their play. With Kris Letang's call-up and Nasreddine and Kennedy heading back down, expect to see a lot of new line combinations from Therrien as he tries to find the right fit for Letang. It's been mentioned and it's sheer fact: no other line is scoring except the top one. What Therrien risks in taking Malkin off the Crosby line is far greater than what he will most likely gain. Now he is asking himself, "Do I potentially lose those one or two goals a game by switching him, or can I maybe jump start the second line?" It's a coach's call.
Up until their loss this past Monday night against the Flyers, the Islanders were on a four-game winning streak. DiPietro grabbed his first shutout of the season against the Lightning, but aside from that the wins were all by one goal. The scary thing about the Islanders is that they can score, but it seems to be they do it only when they want to. Their first win of the season still stands as their highes scoring game (6-4). But from there they went on to lose three games in the first month by only notching one goal.
They've had time though, and the lines are really clicking now. Comrie, Satan, Fedotenko and Guerin are all threats. Guerin was scratched last game against the Flyers, but I have no word as to why or if he'll play tonight.
Penguins and Islanders, tonight at 7:30. The Pens can still pick up six division points this month. Let's hope a win tonight can be the start of something good.
