Pens look to stop Islanders without a key player

Tonight at 7 PM, the Islanders are hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens look to bounce back from a 6-4 loss to Boston on Monday, while the red-hot Islanders look for their 11th consecutive win.

In the game against the Bruins, d-man Kris Letang was unfortunately injured. He will be sidelined for today's divisional showdown between the Isles and the Pens. John Marino will take his place on the first defensive pair alongside Brian Dumoulin who will reintegrate the lineup after being scratched last week.

That also means that Juuso Riikola who filled in for Dumoulin on Monday will replace Marino on the third defensive duo alongside Jack Johnson this evening.

Matt Murray will once again be the starting netminder for the Penguins after losing to Boston. The rest of the lineup should be very similar to the one that played in Boston on Monday. Most notably, the Pens' offensive lines are set to stay uidentical.

Here is the Penguins' projected lineup for tonight's game in New York according to NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor Brian Compton:

Forwards:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Dominik Simon

Alex Galchenyuk - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust

Jared McCann - Nick Bjugstad - Dominik Kahun

Zach Aston-Reese - Teddy Blueger - Brandon Tanev

Defensemen:

Brain Dumoulin - John Marino

Marcus Pettersson - Justin Schultz

Jack Johnson - Juuso Riikola

Goaltenders:

Matt Murray

Tristan Jarry

Forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel will be healthy scratches this evening, while Kris Letang is out with an injury.

After a slow start to their season, the New York Islanders have now won 10 games in a row. Their hot run of form has been in part due to solide offensive contributions from players up and down their depth chart and in other part due to their great defensive record, especially when it comes to their penalty kill. The Isles have successfully killed 22 of their last 23 penalties.

The Penguins' special units will have to work very hard this evening. They will try to find a way to capitalize on the power play without Letang, their anchor on defense. It should be a great hockey game between two talented teams.