Penguins vs. Islanders playoff preview

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight division-based best-of-7 series, which start Saturday.
Today, NHL.com previews the Stanley Cup First Round between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 4 New York Islanders

Penguins:37-16-3, 77 points
Islanders: 32-17-7, 71 points
Season series: PIT 6-2-0; NYI 2-4-2
Game 1:Sunday (Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS)
It's the second time in three seasons the Penguins and Islanders will face each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In Barry Trotz's first season as Islanders coach, they swept the Penguins in the 2019 Eastern Conference First Round.
New York had home-ice advantage in that best-of-7 series, which won't be the case this time against Pittsburgh, which won six of eight against the Islanders during the regular season and finished first in the MassMutual East Division.
"I think anytime you play a team like the Islanders, they're structured so well and they play so well defensively," Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. "It's always going to be a playoff-type game; you've got to have some patience, you've got to do those little things, you've got to pay attention to the details because any little thing that can go wrong, any little mistake can end up in the back of your net.
"There aren't too many opportunities and there aren't too many goals in games like that. I think for us, our ability to stay patient and to kind of trust the process have been big."
Each team will have a different look from when they last faced each other at Pittsburgh on March 29. The Penguins traded for 36-year-old forward Jeff Carter, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Los Angeles Kings (2012, 2014), on April 12. Carter scored nine goals in 14 games following the trade.
The Islanders, trying to fill the void created after captain Anders Lee sustained a season-ending knee injury March 11, acquired forwards Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on April 7.
Palmieri, a five-time 20-goal scorer, scored four points (two goals, two assists) in 17 games after the trade. New York was 6-7-3 and scored 35 goals.
"They're deep, they're fast, they're skilled," Trotz said of the Penguins. "So it's going to be the team that can get to their game, stay to their game and get it done; that's what I've learned in all these years, is you've got to get to your game and stay to your game. There's going to be times when the other team's going to have a push and you're going to have to survive those pushes."

Game breakers

Penguins: Sidney Crosby remains one of the more dominant players in the NHL; the 33-year-old center led Pittsburgh with 24 goals and 62 points. He scored nine points (three goals, six assists) against the Islanders this season, increasing his career total to 122 (39 goals, 83 assists) in 75 games against them. Crosby has more points against the Islanders than any team in his NHL career.
Islanders: Center Mathew Barzal remains New York's most dangerous offensive player and led the Islanders with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 55 games; six points (three goals, three assists) were scored against the Penguins. Barzal scored 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in the 2020 postseason, helping the Islanders reach the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1993. He has scored 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Goaltending

Penguins: Tristan Jarry missed the final game of the regular season on May 8 because of an upper-body injury but has returned to practice and is expected to be the Game 1 starter. Jarry made 38 starts in the regular season and was 25-9-3 with a 2.75 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage and two shutouts, and was 14-2-2 and had a .918 save percentage over his last 20 games. Casey DeSmith won eight of his final 12 starts but was injured May 3 and missed the final three games. He is expected to be healthy by the start of the playoffs. Jarry won five of six starts against the Islanders.
Islanders: Semyon Varlamov could be in the running for the Vezina Trophy, voted as the NHL's top goalie, after he was 19-11-4 with a 2.04 GAA, a .929 save percentage and a League-leading seven shutouts, highlighted by a streak that lasted 248:00 without allowing a goal. He started 19 games during New York's playoff run last season and had a 2.14 GAA, a .921 save percentage and two shutouts. Varlamov will be backed up by 25-year-old rookie Ilya Sorokin, who allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last nine starts. Sorokin was 13-6-3 with a 2.17 GAA, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts.

Numbers to know

Penguins: The power play responded after being ranked 16th in the NHL last season; Pittsburgh was fourth at 23.7 percent. Forward Jared McCann led the Penguins with seven goals on the man-advantage, and Crosby scored 22 power-play points (five goals, 17 assists). They'll have their work cut out for them against New York, which killed 39 of its last 42 shorthanded situations and was sixth in the NHL (83.7 percent).
Islanders: An early lead benefited New York extremely during the regular season; the Islanders were 23-2-2 when scoring first, but they were 9-15-5 when giving up the first goal, including 3-11-4 on the road. They were 15-0-2 at home.

X-factors

Penguins: Evgeni Malkin is healthy enough to play after the center missed 23 games because of a lower-body injury sustained March 16. Pittsburgh was 16-5-2 while Malkin was out, but there's no disputing what the 34-year-old brings when on top of his game. Malkin scored 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) in 33 games.
Islanders: Oliver Wahlstrom bounced in and out of the lineup over the course of the regular season, but the 20-year-old rookie forward displayed an elite NHL shot and scored 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in 44 games. Wahlstrom could be a difference-maker for New York in this series on the man-advantage; he led Islanders forwards with 10 power-play points despite being on the taxi squad for the first two weeks of the season.

They said it

"'Trotzy's' teams are always very sound defensively. We're going to have to be prepared to play in low-scoring games and find ways to create offense different ways. We believe our team is capable of that and we've shown it consistently this season."-- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"To be honest, every matchup was going to be hard in this division. But you look at their year, they've been playing excellent, especially the back half of the year. They've been firing on all cylinders. I think it'll be an awesome challenge. It's the best time of the year and [we're] looking forward to it." -- Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy

Will win if …

Penguins: When they met two years ago in the playoffs, Crosby had no answers for New York's top defense pair of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock and finished with one assist and a minus-4 during the four-game sweep. It is imperative the Pittsburgh captain breaks through this time if the Penguins hope to advance to the second round for the first time since 2018.
Islanders: They can continue to receive the goaltending Varlamov provided during the regular season. Given its struggles over the second half of the season -- New York was 13-11-3 after a 19-6-4 start -- it may require a heist from the Islanders' best player this season in order to reach the second round.

How they look

Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Kasperi Kapanen
Jared McCann -- Jeff Carter -- Frederick Gaudreau
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Mike Matheson -- Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mark Jankowski, Sam Lafferty, Evan Rodrigues, Colton Sceviour, Radim Zohorna, Mark Friedman, Chad Ruhwedel, Maxime Lagace
Injured: None
Islanders projected lineup
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
Scratched:Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Travis Zajac, Braydon Coburn, Cory Schneider
Injured: Anders Lee (knee)