PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (13-6-3) vs NEW YORK ISLANDERS (12-7-2)

IN PITTSBURGH @ 7:30

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DEVILS BLOG: IN LOU WE TRUST

NOTES

Get your SPG picks in for a chance to win a Penguins wall clock courtesy of Carrolls Cove.

Dany Sabourin in net tonight. 

Since Max Talbot is day-to-day and played last night, I guess it can go either way.  If his foot can't hack back-to-back games, then Janne Pesonen is on-call if needed.  It's likely he'll pick up a few minutes anyhow.

John from In Lou We Trust was generous enough to contribute his two cents to the game.  Check it out after the jump.

The Following is courtesy of In Lou We Trust ::

As far as the recent streak, I'd like to point out that the Devils had a four game losing streak prior to the 6-5 win over Washington.  Also, the Devils were only two points ahead of Florida and one point ahead of the Islanders prior to those two crucial games.  The frustrating thing about the four losses is that in 3 of them, the Devils weren't playing poorly - they just couldn't finish scoring chances to get up in the game. Anyway, my point is that they weren't THAT weak opposition based on results.

Regardless, the line of Elias-Zubrus-Gionta clicked, the defense was allowed to get a little more involved on the offense, and confidence from the 6-5 shootout win really kicked the offense into high gear.  And so they just rolled those bad teams (except the last win, that one nearly slipped through NJ's hands) with lethal finishing with solid play instead of losing games in spite of some decent hockey.  So I would say their streak has more to do with how they are playing instead of who they are playing against.

As far as their style of play, I don't think it has changed.  The Devils still tend to dump the puck into the zone and battle along the boards for the puck on most offensive possessions.  They still try to set their defenders and checkers to battle in the neutral zone and be more positional in their own zone, as opposed to being constantly collapsing or a high-pressure defense.  They still distressingly allow the opposition to set up screens against them.  The players are more willing to throw their bodies/sticks into shots as they know Clemmensen/Weekes isn't as reliable on open shots as Martin Brodeur (who would tell the guys in front of him to let him see the open shots). Other than that, I don't think they've changed their overall style.   It will be very interesting as they come back, though.