Penguins at Islanders - 03-29-12
PREGAME
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-Is this do or die for the Penguins tonight? At least in terms of catching the Rangers in the race for the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division? We had to use such drastic terms to describe a simple matter such as the first seed, but if the Penguins don't win tonight, they probably should be resigned to being the No. 4 seed and with that, a first-round meeting with the rival Flyers.
-Hopefully for the Penguins' sake, Tuesday's loss to the Islanders will serve as a wake up call to their leaky defense. They've allowed opposing teams far too much time and space to work with in their own defensive zone. They need to button that up, regardless of the health of their personnel. They can't let Josh Bailey make blue line to blue line breakout passes.
-Brent Johnson "returns" tonight as the No. 2 goaltender. Will he get a start tomorrow in Buffalo?
-The Islanders will bring it once again tonight. A regulation loss would eliminate them officially from the playoff race. Plus, they have a handful of players playing for contracts next season.
-According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, Dan Bylsma has gone back to his old reliable line combinations:
Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Eric Tangradi - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
The defensive pairings:
Brooks Orpik - Zbynek Michalek
Brian Strait - Paul Martin
Simon Despres - Deryk Engelland
-We like seeing Sullivan back on the first line. That trio was productive the first two months of the season.
-Yes, Kunitz was strong on that line, but you need to have some balance throughout the lineup. Sticking him with Crosby offers that.
-And these lines are hardly concrete. Dan Bylsma has shown a willingness to mix and match the lines ever since Crosby returned.
-The Islanders' lines and defensive pairings:
Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau
Joshua Bailey - Frans Neilsen - Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner - Casey Cizikas - Nino Niederreiter
Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Jay Pandolfo
Mark Streit - Dylan Reese
Travis Hamonic - Andrew MacDonald
Mark Eaton - Steve Staios
-The Penguins' starters are Malkin, Neal, Sullivan, Michalek, Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Dustin Jeffrey, Kris Letang, Ben Lovejoy, Matt Niskanen, Richard Park and the great Joe Vitale.
-The Islanders' starters are Bailey, Nielsen, Okposo, Hamonic, MacDonald and Al Montoya.
-Their scratches are Milan Jurcina and Evgeni Nabokov.
FIRST PERIOD
19:35: Sullivan whacks a one-timer from the left wing corner on net. Montoya knocks it dead and covers.
18:52: A wrister by Paul Martin from the slot is blocked by Moulson.
18:10: Niederreiter makes a nifty move off the left wing to create some space against Despres but loses the puck before he can shoot.
15:50: Reese takes a pass at the left point and booms a slapper. Malkin blocks it in the slot.
15:42: Reese chops another slapper from the left point wide on the near side.
14:49: Cooke is nabbed for hugging P.A. Parenteau against the right wing boards of the Islanders' zone. That's two minutes for holding. Michalek, Orpik, Staal and Dupuis take the ice.
14:05: Streit cracks a slapper from the top of the slot. It hits a body in front.
13:48: A loose puck slide to the left circle. Parenteau steps up and hammers a one-timer no where near the cage.
12:49: The Cooke minor is killed. The Islanders didn't ahve many chances there.
10:58: Argh! Kennedy hustles into the offensive zone on the left wing, pulls up at the half wall and deals a pass to Staal streaking past the blue line. Staal takes the pass, twists around Tavares in the slot and attacks the net. He flips a forehand shot to the far side by Montoya's blocker. The puck rings off the far post. The rebound trickles towards Staal but its right in his feet. He can't get a stick on the puck to get a shot off. So close.
9:29: Streit goes wide on the left wing and swings behind the net. Fleury over commits to Streit and slides well out of the blue pain. Streit emerges to the right of the cage and deals a pass to Okposo in the slot. Okposo hurries the shot and puts it off the right post. Malkin appeared to get a piece of the shot. Fleury owes a beer to Malkin or the post.
8:53: The Islanders dominate puck possession in the Penguins' zone and get the first goal. Streit once again is in deep. He swings behind the cage off the right wing, emerges on the left wing and deals a pass to Reasoner in the slot. Reasoner grips and rips a wrister through Fleury's five hole. It's Reasoner's first goal of the season and his first point in 30 games. The islanders dominated play in the Penguins' zone for about a minute and a half. They earned that goal. Streit and Bailey get assists. Islanders 1-0.
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8:01: Engelland and Matt Martin collide in the right wing corner of the Penguins' zone. Engelland ends up on his butt.
5:42: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left circle wide.
5:40: Bailey is called for hooking Sullivan in the right wing corner of the Islanders' zone. That's two minutes. Sullivan, Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz and Neal take the ice. Sullivan and Malkin man the points.
5:21: Neal snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Hamonic blocks it.
5:13: Crosby controls the puck behind the net and deals a quick pass to Kunitz in the right circle. Kunitz jabs a quick shot which Montoya steers away.
4:42: Sullivan floats a wrister from the top of the slot. Montoya eats it up despite traffic.
4:37: From the left point, Sullivan slides a pass to Malkin on the right half wall. Malkin launches a one-timer which complete misses the net and does nothing but scuffs the glass.
3:40: The Bailey minor is killed. The Penguisn generated a few chances there.
2:51: Streit snaps off a wrister from a bad angle on the left wing. Fleury punches it away with his blocker.
2:41: Parenteau snaps off a wrister from the left circle. Fleury bodies it away.
1:45: Grabner spins off a check on the right wing and deals a pass to the slot. Nieddereiter is there and jabs at the puck but Engelland has him tied up enough to force the shot wide.
0:58: Tangradi gets some time with Kunitz and Crosby. He barges by Cizikas off the left wing and punches a shot on net. Montoya kicks it out. A nice power move by Tangradi.
0:00: End of period. Islanders 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-That was a much better effort on defense by the Penguins. They really seemed to clamp down on the free space the Islanders hd to work with in the offensive zone. As a result, you saw fewer scoring chances.
-The Islanders seemed to do a great job of possessing the puck in the offensive zone and that's what led to the only goal.
-The "new/old" lines were so so for the Penguins. The Staal-Kennedy-Cooke line appeared to have the most chemistry of the top three lines.
-Fleury had a few shaky moments.
-Mark Streit is a heck of a skater.
-The Penguins have a 7-4 lead in shots.
-Sullivan and Kennedy each lead the game with two shots.
-Streit leads the game with 10:06 of ice time.
-Michalek leads the Penguins with 7:46.
-The Islanders have a 6-5 lead in faceoffs (55 percent).
-Tavares is 3 for 3 (100 percent).
-Crosby is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Malkin leads the game with two blocked shots.
-During the intermission, Root Sports rehashes one of the more heartbreaking playoff losses in Penguins history. Game 5 of a preliminary round in the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs:
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SECOND PERIOD
19:58: Compression Socks might be one of the best on-ice advertisements we've ever seen:
19:52: Sullivan has a chance from the slot but forces a pass to Neal just to his left. Neal isn't expecting the pass and can't pull the trigger.
18:17: Reese tries to play a puck out of the left wing corner of the Islanders' zone. It hops up on on him and catches Crosby in the face. Crosby lays on the ice holding his face. Athletic trainer Chris Stewart attends to him. Crosby eventually recovers to his skates and heads to the dressing room holding a towel over his face. It takes several minutes to clean the ice of blood.
17:16: Cizikas motors into the offensive zone and challenges Paul Martin one-on-one. Martin knocks the puck away with a stick on puck.
16:22: Dupuis snaps off a wrister from above the left circle. Eaton blocks it with a stick on puck. Fire Ray Shero.
15:31: Kennedy glides up the left wing one-on-one against Reese. He goes to the outside with his backhander, gets a step on Reese and attacks the net. He flips to the forehand and snaps off a little shot. Montoya closes his five hole to hold it out.
15:20: Okposo is called for high sticking Tangradi. That's two minutes. Martin, Sullivan, Malkin, Neal and Kunitz take the ice.
14:52: Sullivan slides a pass from the top of the slot to Malkin on the right wing half wall. Malkin whacks a one-timer which is denied.
14:31: Off a shorthanded rush, Reasoner whips a wrister on net from the left circle. Fleury fights it off.
14:17: Off an ugly turnover by Paul Martin behind his own net, Matt Martin whips a wrister from the left circle. Fleury denies it.
13:20: As the Penguins' power play expires, Despres whiffs on a shot in the left circle. As Matt Martin skates the other way in transition, Despres hooks him up. That's two minutes. Orpik, Michalek, Dupuis and Adams take the ice.
12:44: Off a cross-ice feed from Streit, Parenteau chops a slapper from the left half wall wide to the far side.
11:57: Shorthanded, Cooke chips a backhanded pass towards the slot from the left wing corner. Staal is there and whacks it on net. Montoya holds it out.
11:23: Pascal Dupuis. Goal scorer. Just prior to the Despres' minor expires. Adams chips a puck in from the left point to Despres above the left circle. Streit applies light pressure with a stick on puck attempt. Dupuis grips and rips a wrister which toasts Montoya's glove hand on the far side. Wow. What a shot! It's Dupuis' 24 goal of the season and his 12th consecutive game with a point. Adams and Paul Martin get assists. Martin had a nice calm outlet pass from the neutral zone off a turnover to create that chance. Islanders 1, Penguins 1.
11:20: The Despres minor expires.
10:13: Crosby returns to the Penguins bench after getting repairs in the dressing room.
9:38: Off a nifty backhanded feed by Asham, Sullivan snaps off a wrister from the slot wide to the right of the cage.
9:02: Engelland races into the offensive zone with speed on the left wing and snaps off a wrister which Hamonic deflects out of play with his stick.
8:21: After Moulson chops a loose puck from the slot wide, Michalek blocks a wrister by Tavares from the left circle.
7:49: Orpik and Parenteau mix it up in the right wing corner. Both players are sent off for slashing. Four on four.
6:56: In transition off an offensive zone turnover by the Penguins, Okposo glides up the left wing into the Penguins zone. He gains the blue line, cuts to the slot and whips a wrist eron net which Fleury punches away.
6:00: Kennedy takes a pass at the right half wall, makes a nifty move around Okopos and snaps off a wrister. Montoya knocks it dead and covers the rebound.
5:34: Streit makes a move off the left wing, cuts to this backhand and lifts a shot from the left circle. Fleury fights it off.
5:16: Orpik and Michalek mix it up in the right wing corner of the Penguins zone. Orpik kind of lifts Moulson's leg and drops him to the ice. That's two minutes for holding. Staal, Cooke, Martin and Michalek take the ice.
3:53: Off a neutral zone turnover by the Penguins, Michalek booms a slapper from the defensive zone down ice.
3:24: Off the right half wall, Baily slides a cross ice pass to Okposo in the left circle. Okposo booms a one-time which Michalek blocks. Okposo recovers the rebound and deals it to the slot. Niederreiter crashes in. The puck appears to hit off the right skate of Engelland and deflects though Fleury's five hole. An unfortunate hop there. Bailey and Hamonic get assists. Islanders 2-1.
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2:45: Matt Martin hits Strait from behind into the left wing corner boards of the Penguins' zone. That's two minutes for boarding. To his credit, Martin tried to hold Strait up after the hit. Malkin, Neal, Crosby, Sullivan and Kunitz take the ice.
1:24: Ugh. Malkin is at the left point on the power play and fumbles the puck. Bailey pokes it ot the neutral zone. Neal and Pandolfo hustle after the rebound in the neutral zone. Pandolfo gets a stick on it first and hacks it up ice. Bailey recovers it and moves in on a breakaway. He approaches the net with the puck rolling on his forehand. He avoids a poke check from Fleury and goes to the backhand tucking the puck into the open cage. What a mess for the Penguins. Pandolfo gets the only assist. Islanders 3-1.
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0:52: Kennedy has a chance from a tough angle on the left wing and whips a wrister over the cage. He had Montoya out of position.
0:45: The Martin minor is killed. Not a great two minutes for the Penguins.
0:00: End of period. Islanders 3, Penguins 1.
SECOND PERIOD
-This was a good period for the Penguins for roughly the first 16 mintues. Then the roof just kind of caved in. What a mess at the end.
-The Penguins did good job of closing things down in the defensive zone during that 16 minutes. The Islanders had very vew chances.
-We know Kris Letang is absent, but this power play needs at least one defenseman on it. Going with five forwards is way too risky. And frankly, the result of late have not justified the risk.
-Hard to blame Fleury for either of those goals in the second period.
-Pascal Dupuis is on fire right now, but he can't be the team's best offensive weapon heading into the playoffs.
-The Penguins have a 14-13 edge in faceoffs.
-The top two lines for the Penguins have not had much chemistry tonight.
-Sullivan, Kennedy and Malkin each lead the game with three shots.
-Okposo and Reasoner each lead the Penguins with two.
-Paul Martin leads the game with 16:49 of ice time.
-Streit is right behind him with 16:48.
-The Penguins have a 16-14 edge in faceoffs (53 percent).
-Tavares is 6 for 7 (86 percent).
-Staal is 5 for 6 (83 percent).
-Hamonic leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Malkin leads the Penguins with two blocked shots.
-EN Reader is on Long Island and sends in this video board foul by the Islanders' game entertainment staff:
-Crosby appears to have a slight cut on the left side of his nose:
THIRD PERIOD
19:16: Things get off to a horrible start of the Penguins as Neal hits MacDonald from behind into the Islanders' end boards. That's two minutes for boarding. Staal, Michalek, Orpik and Adams take the ice.
17:44: Dupuis chucks a wrister on net from the right half wall. Montoya kicks it out to the opposite boards with his right leg.
17:16: The Neal minor is killed. The Islanders didn't do much with that chance.
16:55: Grabner races into the offensive zone with speed and blows by Despres on the left wing. He chucks a wrister on net. Fleury fights it off.
16:35: Off a version of the Malkin/Neal play, Kennedy wins a faceoff in the left circle. Asham is position directly behind him and whips a wrister wide of the cage.
15:46: Cizikas tries a chip and chase play at the Penguins' blue line and is held up by Strait. No call.
14:08: The Penguins have a defensive zone breakdown and the Islanders all but secure the win. Nielsen deals a pass from the left wing corner to Bailey to the right of the cage. Bailey controls the puck, draws in Paul Martin and taps a pass to Okposo all alone in the slot. Okposo chops the puck by the blocker of a helpless Fleury. The Penguins' defense was a mess on that play. Who was the first forward back? Bailey and Nielsen get assists.
13:51: Neal is hooked up on a scoring chance in the right circle. Streit is called for hooking. A chance at life here for the Penguins. Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz and Sullivan take the ice.
13:45: Crosby whips a backhander from the left circle wide to the far side.
13:14: Sullivan chops a slapper from the left half wall wide of the cage.
12:50: The Penguins are doing everything they can to shoot more. Sullivan whips a wrister from the top of the slot on net. Montoya kicks it out despite traffic.
12:30: Bailey forces a turnover in the neutral zone and springs defensive defenseman Steve Staois on a breakaway. Staois motors in and flips a forehand shot on net. Fleury kicks it out.
11:51: The Streit minor is killed. That was a missed chance for the Penguins.
11:40: Not so fast. Michalek controls the puck just inside the Penguins' blue line and flings a pass from the left wing wall to Staal at the New York blue line. Staal takes the pass, blows by Hamonic and McDonald and chips a backhand shot by the glove hand of Montoya. What a pretty goal. Michalek and Martin get assists. Islanders 4-2.
10:58: Staios chops a slapper from the left point. Fleury fights it off. Tavares whacks at the rebound but Fleury holds it out.
8:34: Racing after a dump-in attempt, Tangradi blasts Reasoner to the ice after Reasoner chips the puck around the boards.
7:36: Paul Martin chops a slapper from the left point. It hits a body in front.
5:57: Kennedy snaps off a wrister from the left wing corner. Montoya steers it away.
5:39: Broadcaster Bob Errey mentions Simon Despres isn't on the bench and suggest it's an equipment issue.
2:44: Tangradi and Adams slam Reasoner into the boards in front of the Penguins' bench.
2:04: Cooke smacks MacDoanld to the ice in the left wing corne rof the Islanders' zone.
1:53: Paul Martin whacks a slapper from the slot. Montoya steers it away.
1:45: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker.
1:31: One-goal game. Kennedy controls the puck in the left circle and deals a pass to Malkin in the slot. Malkin settles the puck and whips a wrister by the blocker of Montoya. Cooke had a solid screen on that play. It's Malkin's 100th point of the season. Kennedy and Cooke get assists. Don't go anywhere. Islanders 4-3.
1:11: Fleury is pulled for an extra attacker again.
1:07: Sullivan deals a pass to Crosby deep on the left wing. Crosby chops a one-time but hits the puck with the heel of his stick and misses the cage.
0:35: Sullivan whacks a one-timer from th left point. It hits a body in front a hops away.
0:26: After going offsides, the Penguins call a timeout to get organized.
0:04: Who else but Bailey? Sullivan fumbles a puck at the left point. Bailey pushes it up the ice to the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. He chips it into the open cage for one of us:
-The goal is unassisted. Islanders 5-3.
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0:00: End of game. Islanders 5, Penguins 3.
POSTGAME
-Did the Penguins kiss away their chances at first place for Eastern Confernece and Atlantic Division? Probably. The Rangers have a five point lead. The Penguins had a game in hand at before tonight as well as a head-to-head meeting with the Rangers next Thursday. They had to get four points out of those two games to have a chance. Tonight's loss really kills those chances.
-Overall, the Penguins played better than they did Tuesday. They didn't play all that sloppy on defense. It was more a matter of individual mistakes. Poor turnovers or bad hops led to the Islanders' chances tonight. And to their credit, the Islanders capitalized.
-Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen look really valuable right now. You have to imagine their respective presences would cut down on several of those mistakes.
-Don't put this all on the Penguins' blue liners. Their forwards haven't been all that sharp in their own zone.
-Again, the "new/old" line combinations didn't exacly seem to display a ton of chemistry.
-The Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pasal Dupuis didn't seem to click.
-Steve Sullivan seemed to force too many passes to Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. He has a shot. He should use it.
-The Tyler Kennedy-Jordan Staal-Matt Cooke line was the most consistent.
-Dupuis and Kennedy probably had the best games for the Penguins. They skated hard every shift and seemed to create things anytime they had the puck.
-We realize the injuries to Letang and Niskanen kind of dictated the personnel, but five forwards on the power play is just too risky.
-You have to imagine if Staal gets that goal midway through the first period, it's probably a totally different game. The Penguins have a 1-0 lead at that point.
-Unless you're just brain dead, it's difficult to blame Marc-Andre Fleury for this game. He rebounded with an stronger effort after a rough night Tuesday.
-Don't take anything away from the Islanders. They're playing hungry. They still have a slim chance at the postseason and are trying to keep those hopes alive. Additionally, a lot of their players are fighting for NHL jobs. They have had a purpose the past few games.
-Josh Bailey. What do you say about him? He has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the past two games against the Penguins. Dang.
-Okposo has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past three games against the Penguins.
-Al Montoya was sharp again. He seemed to make several tough saves seem routine.
-The Penguins led in shots, 29-24.
-Malkin led the game with six.
-Michael Grabner and Okposo each led the Islanders with three.
-Paul Martin led the game with 27:07 of ice time.
-Streit led the Islanders with 23:42.
-The Islanders had a 23-22 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Tavares was 9 for 12 (51 percent).
-Staal was 8 for 12 (67 percent).
-Travis Hamonic led the game with three blocked shots.
-Malkin and Deryk Engelland each led the game with two blocked shots.
-Malkin became the first player in the NHL this season to reach 100 points.
-Crosby was shutout for the second consecutive game.
-Dupuis now has a 12-game scoring streak.
-Dupuis moved past Doug Bodger for Doug Bodger for 47th place on the Penguins' all-time scoring list. Both players have 167 points but Dupuis (73) has more goals than Bodger (35).
-Kennedy (155 points) moved past "Battleship" Bob Kelly (154) for 52nd place.
-Cooke moved past Ross Lonsberry for 65th place. Both players have 129 points but Cooke (59) has more goals than Lonsberry (56).
-Paul Martin scored his 50th career point with the Penguins.
-Highlights: