Pittsburgh Penguins Pick Up Two Against New York Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins were looking to rebound against the New York Islanders, after having dropped a close 2-1 contest in Brooklyn last Tuesday. This time the Pens were looking to gain ground on the Isles in the Metropolitan Division standings on their own turf.

With goaltender Jaroslav Halak out of the lineup due to a groin injury, suffered last Tuesday in the Islanders victory over the Penguins, New York went with Jean-Francois Berube in net. The Isles were making the trek up to Pennsylvania, fresh off a 3-2 loss yesterday to the Florida Panthers in the sunshine state, and so netminder Thomas Greiss was given some rest. This would be J-F Berube’s third start on the season.

The Pens meanwhile, decided to ride the hot hand. Rather than rest him, coming off of two wins in a row, Pittsburgh put Marc-Andre Fleury back between the pipes. In his previous start against the Isles, although he didn’t come out with the win, Fleury played pretty well. He turned away all even-strength goals, going 20 for 20, while giving up two on the Islanders’ powerplay.

Late in the first period of tonight’s contest in Pittsburgh, the Pens picked up the first goal of the game, taking a play out of their opponent’s book with a screen. Brian Dumoulin took a snap shot from the point, while Chris Kunitz positioned himself in front of Berube and tipped the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead.

That’s the way the first would end, with the Pens leading by one.

The second period went without much fanfare.  The Pens did seem to control the puck for the majority of the period, and had the better chances of the two teams. However, after two periods, the Pens still held a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard, having outshot the Isles 21 to 15.

Early in the third, Josh Bailey got called for tripping on Trevor Daley, who picked up two minutes of his own for embellishment. Daley was clearly tripped, but he stumbled a bit before he went down and then laid on the ice longer than he needed to. The ice was opened a bit with a 4-on-4, but neither team was able to take advantage.

New York had a chance to tie up the contest with about six minutes remaining in the third, when Nick Bonino was called for slashing, giving the Islanders the man advantage. They made the most of that chance, sneaking the puck in past a diving Fleury, as Kyle Okposo shoveled the puck into the net after a scrum, for his 19th goal of the season.

Brian Dumoulin snapped a shot from the point just a couple of minutes later, which was reminiscent of the one that was tipped in for the first goal, however this one just made the post ring out. That was the last significant scoring chance of the third, as the game which for quite a while looked to be pointing towards a Pens victory, headed into extra time. 

The Pens were now guaranteed a point, which might help them in the Wild Card, but doesn’t do them much from a divisional standpoint, particularly considering their opponents. The 3-on-3 overtime was certainly the most exciting part of the game. Each team had their chances to end the contest. Pittsburgh looked to control the majority of the extra five minutes, however they weren’t able to put the puck in the net. As the OT wound down, John Tavares took the puck up the right side and skated in on Fleury. Tavares was checked and the puck was left right on the doorstep before being swept away to end the OT period. On to the shootout.

Kris Letang put the first puck in the net with his backhander over the shoulder of Berube. On the final shot of the game, John Tavares slowed his skating down to a crawl and Fleury used his trademark poke-check to deny the goal-scorer, ending the game and giving the Pens the key two points they sorely needed.

Once again, M-A Fleury was outstanding in net. His only lapse came on the powerplay, as happened in the previous contest against the Isles. This time however, the Pens would up on the right side of the score sheet with the victory.