Penguins Must Beware of This New York Islanders Pair

CRANBERRY — Brock Nelson and Anders Lee are not the most dangerous duo the Pittsburgh Penguins have had to face when playing the New York Islanders.

There was, after all, a time when New York coach Al Arbour could send two future Hockey Hall of Famers — center Bryan Trottier and right winger Mike Bossy — over the boards against them. Which he did with regularity.

And while Nelson and Lee aren’t likely to make it into the Hockey Hall of Fame without forking over the price of a ticket, they do some of their best and most productive work against the Penguins, who will take on the Islanders Saturday at 7:38 p.m. at UBS Arena on Long Island.

Nelson, a center, enters that meeting with 21 goals and 39 points in 44 career games against the Penguins, both personal bests. Lee, a left winger, has tied his individual highs with 17 goals and 26 points in 39 games against them.

Penguins players say that during pregame meetings, the coaching staff tends to focus primarily on tendencies in the other club’s play, instead of individuals, although players with exceptional abilities might be discussed, too.

While Nelson and Lee don’t necessarily meet that criterion, their consistent success against the Penguins might mean they merit a mention or two.

If Mike Sullivan and his assistants have devised a strategy to do damage-control against that pair this weekend — the Penguins and Islanders will meet again Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena — they aren’t sharing it.

Unless — or until — the coaches brief their personnel on whatever plans they have to defend Nelson and Lee, Pittsburgh Penguins players say the key to minimizing their impact is the standard limit-their-time-and-space approach.

“We’re always trying to be physical, limit their time and space,” winger Anthony Beauvillier, an Islanders alum, said after practice Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Nice idea, but hardly a new or novel one, or something the Penguins haven’t tried to do in the past. With modest success, at best, much of the time.

Beauvillier got a first-hand look at Lee and Nelson, not only as a teammate but occasionally on the same line.

“Fun guys to play with,” he said. “Anders is a force, owns the net-front and Brock is an elite shooter who sees the ice really well.”

Nelson is a solid two-way center who can set up goals as well as score them, while Lee, who is 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, is one of the NHL’s best men around the crease.

When Lee claims a spot there, dislodging him can be like trying to relocate a concrete bridge piling.

“He’s a big guy who’s tough to move around,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “Anything that goes around your net, he’s going to get a hand on.”

He noted that it is not unusual for individuals to fare especially well — or poorly — against a particular opponent. Sidney Crosby, for example, has a personal-best 135 points in 87 career games against the Islanders.

“There are some guys that play against certain teams and always tend to have success,” he said.

Considering that Nelson — who Letang described as “a really smart player” with “tons of skill” — doesn’t have a goal in his past 12 games, he probably was quite pleased to see a home-and-home with the Penguins on the schedule. Nelson hasn’t scored in five, so he likely won’t mind facing them, either.

And while it’s entirely possible the Penguins will find a way to neutralize Nelson and/or Lee, they found explaining why those two have fared so well to be every bit as challenging as trying to impede them is.

“If I had the answer, we’d know how to stop them,” forward Drew O’Connor said.

Nonetheless, the Penguins shouldn’t be upset about taking on the Islanders now. New York is 2-4 in its past six games, including a 7-1 humiliation by bottom-feeding Buffalo on home ice Monday.

The Islanders are tied with their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers, for last place in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sweep the weekend, and the Penguins could expand their comfort zone over the Islanders quite a bit.

Perhaps enough to make the next time they have to share a slab of ice with Nelson and Lee a bit less stressful.