Here is what we know about the game for tonight:

• The Islanders are still the bottom feeding in the East. Only the Hurricanes have a worse record. They are currently 9-11-6.
• Al Montoya will be in net tonight in the Coliseum. He is 5-3-3 this season.
• John Tavares is leading the Islanders in goals with 9, 4 of which were on the power plcay. He has 23 points.
• Steve Staios leads the Isles in penalty minutes. He has 33. A far cry from Zac Rinaldo of the Flyers’s 91 PIM. Yeesh. But maybe we can draw a few penalties off of him.
• The last time we met the Islanders was November 21st, Sidney Crosby’s return. The Pens embarrassed the Isles that night, shutting them out 0-5 at Consol.
• Deryk Engelland is on the ice for practice today but it has not been decided if he will play in tonight’s game. Robert Bortuzzo is out indefinitely with a concussion from the hit he received from Zac Rinaldo during Thursday’s game. If Engelland does not play tonight, we can probably expect Carl Sneep or Simon Despres to be called from WB/S. The Baby Pens are playing in Hersey tonight. Our blue liners are dropping like flies.
• According to Ben Lovejoy, per the Ben Lovejoy Show on Trib Radio, he has been skating for 3 weeks now with no puck handling and has “graduated to one-handed which I would argue that I’m gonna be one of the best one-handed hockey players in the NHL when I come back.” Lovejoy has been out with a broken wrist on November 3rd. You can listen to Ben here. (And now retract the mis-information from what were believed to be reputable resources that Ben will be back in 2-4 weeks. Apologies.)
• Sidney Crosby is still out for tonight’s game as a precaution from some hits received in the game against Boston.
• Marc-Andre Fleury is in the net tonight and is undefeated in his last 13 starts against the Isles.
• Richard Park is still listed as day to day.

Let’s Go Pens!