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Post-Game Audio
Dan Bylsma
Marc-Andre Fleury
Beau Bennett
Pascal Dupuis
Jarome Iginla
Kris Letang
Mark Eaton
Brandon Sutter
Jack Capuano
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Observations from Pens' 5-0, Game 1 win over Isles
Evgeni Malkin: Passed up a shot from the slot in the third period when it looked like he had a good look at the net. Malkin’s attempted pass to the right wing was sticked away by an Islander. Only Kris Letang (3:53) saw more time on the power play than Geno (3:46). Malkin led the team with four shots, though only one of those shots came on the man advantage. He went 9-9 in the faceoff circle, acceptable by his standards.
Perhaps Malkin’s shoulder injury won’t be healed until next season, but he still creates more than most players. The team isn’t Sid or Geno-centric, as it has been in past playoff runs.
Kris Letang: Potted the power-play goal that gave Pens a 3-0 lead and put New York away. He didn’t make any glaring mistakes on defense, skating a team-high 25:20 without a giveaway. Only Paul Martin saw more than 20 minutes (21:32) of ice time with Brooks Orpik sidelined. One could make the case that Letang didn’t need to see the minutes he saw with a big lead.
Pascal Dupuis: His 29 points (14G, 15A) in 36 games against the Isles are a career high. He showed why he likes playing against New York again Wednesday, netting a pair of backhanders. Not bad for a guy who saw more time (3:20) killing penalties other than Craig Adams (3:24). By the way, Dupuis will an unrestricted free agent following these playoffs.
Brenden Morrow: Seems like he was the only Penguin not to pick up at least one point. While points come his way and are a part of his game, Morrow’s primary focus is making the ice uncomfortable for the likes of John Tavares, which he did
here. Playing in his first postseason game since 2008, Morrow made up for time lost and led the Pens with five registered hits.
Marc-Andre Fleury: No one on the Pens needed a statement game as much as the Flower did after a disastrous playoff performance against the Flyers last spring. Twenty-six saves and a 5-0 shutout later, mission accomplished by the newly-christened father. While beating the Islanders in a Game 1 Quarterfinals game won’t win him the Conn Smythe, the early returns are no doubt encouraging.
Coach Dan Bylsma: The critics would’ve been all over the Penguins coach had the team lost Wednesday. His players jumped out to a quick start, courtesy of Matt Cooke drawing the game’s first penalty, and never looked back. New York actually won more faceoffs than Pittsburgh (32 to 30), outhit the Pens (41 to 36), and tied in shots (both teams finished with 26 apiece), but the numbers have to be taken in perspective. The reality of the game is that Pittsburgh led, 3-0, less than two minutes into Period 2 and had little more to prove.
Mark Eaton: Eaton blocked eight shots, nearly the same number as the Islanders’ total of 12. The inexact tradeoff of defensemen Brian Strait and Eaton earlier in the season has swung in the Penguins’ favor. Pittsburgh holds a 21-3 record with Eaton in the lineup.
Beau Bennett: Bennett’s appearance in the lineup calmed down some folks who were upset Simon Despres didn’t play – not that the two items are directly related. The Penguins’ official Twitter page actually sent out a pre-game note with Tyler Kennedy listed on the fourth line, not Bennett. We're glad he played.
Goals from unexpected places go over really well in the playoffs, but a first-shift, power-play marker? Wow, if that didn’t give the Pens a boost, what would?
Other Notable Nights
Doug Murray: Five hits.
Tanner Glass: Six hits and a goal!
Jussi Jokinen: Two assists. His presence at center lets the Pens keep their other lines together. Plus, he’s not too bad himself. Jokinen has seven goals and 13 points in 11 games for Pittsburgh.
What'd I miss?
From the Penguins: Team Notes
Pittsburgh improved to 25-28 in Game 1s in franchise history. The win also improves the Penguins’ home record in Game 1 to 18-12.
The Penguins’ three goals marked the fifth-straight playoff series opener that Pittsburgh has scored three or more goals in the opening game. The last time Pittsburgh failed to score three or more goal in a series opener was in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final against Detroit.
Tonight’s 5-0 victory established the Penguins’ largest victory margin at home since a 6-0 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Philadelphia on May 18, 2008.
Pittsburgh went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Islanders. This marks the first time the penalty kill went perfect since Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Tampa Bay (2-for-2).
The Penguins scored two goals on four power-play chances tonight. Pittsburgh has now gone 7-2 in their last nine playoff games when scoring two or more power-play goals.
Player Notes
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 26 New York shots for his sixth career postseason shutout. He is now tied with Tom Barrasso for the most career playoff shutouts in Penguins history. The shutout is also Fleury’s first in the playoffs since April 13, 2011 against Tampa Bay.
Tanner Glass scored his first-ever playoff goal in the second period.
Pascal Dupuis finished the game with two goals. That marked Dupuis’ second career two-goal playoff game – the last occurring on May 8, 2003 against the Vancouver Canucks when he was a member of the Wild. Dupuis now has eight points (4G-4A) over his last seven playoff games dating back to last season.
Kris Letang scored a second-period power-play goal. The goal is the 11th of his postseason career; only Larry Murphy has more (15) among all Penguins defensemen.
Jarome Iginla collected two assists. His two points mark his 15th career multi-point postseason game and the first multi-point game for Iginla in the playoffs since April 22, 2009 against Chicago.
Jussi Jokinen had two assists. The assists are Jokinen’s seventh and eighth of his playoff career and first points since May 21, 2009 at Pittsburgh when he was a member of the Hurricanes.
Mark Eaton collected an assist in the second period – his first point of the season. Eaton led all players with eight blocked shots in the game.
Beau Bennett became the first Penguins rookie to score the team’s opening goal of the playoffs since Jordan Staal did so against the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on April 11, 2007 at Scotiabank Place. Bennett joins a list of notable Penguins including Staal, Sidney Crosby and Pierre Larouche that have scored goals in their postseason debuts.
Evgeni Malkin finished with two assists, both on the power play. For Malkin, it is his 25th career multi-point game in the playoffs. He now has 83 career points and 51 career assists in the postseason.
Craig Adams had the additional assist on Dupuis’ goal. Including the regular season and playoffs, Adams has now scored a combined 63 career points with Pittsburgh. He has recorded 16% of those points during the playoffs (6G-4A-10PTS).
Attendance: 18,612 (this marks the 279th consecutive sellout).
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Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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