Pittsburgh @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2019 ) NY Islanders 5, Pittsburgh 4

The New York Islanders have been pushed to the limit by the Pittsburgh Penguins on two occasions during their franchise high-tying 15-game point streak, with the Metropolitan Division rivals ultimately skating away with a road overtime victory apiece. The current Islanders club aims to etch its name into the record books on Thursday when they complete a home-and-home series with the Penguins at Barclays Center.

"It's fun when you're winning games. So right now, we're showing up, working hard and believing in each other," Brock Nelson said after he capped a two-goal performance by scoring 2:55 into overtime in New York's 5-4 overtime victory on Tuesday. The Islanders have won four in a row and improved to 14-0-1 in their last 15 contests, matching the respective runs of the teams in 1978-79 (12-0-3), 1980-81 (13-0-2) and 1981-82 (15-0-0). The lone blemish in New York's current stretch came on Nov. 7, when Bryan Rust completed a two-goal effort by scoring in overtime of Pittsburgh's 4-3 victory. Rust opened the scoring on Tuesday and has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 10 contests since missing 11 games with an upper-body injury to start the season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, MSG-Plus (New York)

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (11-7-3): Brandon Tanev has answered a six-game point drought with two assists in Pittsburgh's 6-1 win against Toronto on Saturday and two goals in the previous encounter with the Islanders. Coach Mike Sullivan voiced his approval of the play by Tanev after the 27-year-old stepped up in place of Dominik Simon on a line with Jared McCann and Dominik Kahun. "Tans is a straight-line guy, he can really skate, he's got a heavy forecheck, he's a physical player, he goes to the net," Sullivan said. "He's heavy. He just brings that dimension to the other two guys."

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (15-3-1): While Nelson has collected at least a point in each of his last four contests (two goals, five assists), linemate Anthony Beauvillier has scored five times during his three-game goal streak. "It's a lot of fun playing with (Nelson) and (Derick Brassard)," the 22-year-old Beauvillier said. "It's been good for us so far. We definitely want to keep that going. We want to keep creating loose pucks and creating chances. It's fun playing hockey when you're playing in the offensive zone. I feel like that's what we've been doing, and we want to keep that going." Speaking of Brassard, the 32-year-old extended his point streak to four games (one goal, seven assists) by setting up a pair of goals in his return to Pittsburgh for the first time since being traded away to Florida early in February.

OVERTIME

1. Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin set up a pair of goals on Tuesday to boost his point total to 10 (two goals, eight assists) in his past seven games.

2. New York D Nick Leddy notched three assists and registered a plus-5 in Tuesday's contest.

3. The Penguins have killed 23 consecutive penalties and haven't allowed a power-play goal in their past 10 games.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Islanders 3