Game Night: Can Pens close out upstart Islanders on Saturday?
My sister’s not familiar with hockey. She asked me yesterday if every team had a Sidney Crosby. She wondered if the local news media just pushed Crosby and made a big deal out of him because he played in Pittsburgh.
My answer to her was simple. Ever team
wishes they had a Sidney Crosby. Only by fortune of a ping-pong ball lottery drawing did the Penguins get the right to draft him.
Then she asked if Crosby could’ve turned down playing for Pittsburgh. We went through the scenario of how playing in Pittsburgh lessened some of the scrutiny he might have received as compared to a city like Toronto.
In the end, I told Joy that Pittsburgh is really lucky to have Crosby.
With that in mind, we shift our attention to Game 6 and possibly Game 7 for the Pens and Islanders. There’s little doubt that Pens coach Dan Bylsma wants this quarterfinals matchup to conclude at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday.
Anything can happen in one game, as Penguins fans circa 1993 can attest.
It’s up to you, New York, to make the necessary adjustments after watching Pittsburgh run roughshod over you Thursday in Game 5. A big step in that direction would be to get better goaltending. For all of the talk of Marc-Andre Fleury’s struggles, Evgeni Nabokov has played worse.
Tyler Kennedy, the TK who TKO’ed the Isles in Game 5, was asked whether he looked to shoot at a particular area on Nabokov on his Kris-Letang sprung breakaway goal. Kennedy answered unabashedly, “glove-side.”
Tomas Vokoun improved to 4-0 against the Islanders in 2013 with a 31-save shutout Thursday. He kept the puck out of his own net and the Pittsburgh skaters seemed to grow in confidence with every stop. It wouldn’t be surprising to see coach Bylsma stick with Vokoun for another game Saturday. Bylsma likes to stick with hot goalies/lineups while they’re on a roll.
Sports Illustrated coverboySidney Crosby rekindled the chemistry he showed with fellow 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist, Jarome Iginla, at just the right time. Playing alongside one another, Iginla fed Crosby at center ice with a puck Crosby turned into a magnificent moment. The Penguins center made like Mario Lemieux and split two New York blueliners before making a statue out of Nabokov.
The lines played themselves out the way a lot of folks hoped they would. Crosby centered Pascal Dupuis and Iginla. Chris Kunitz was reunited with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. Simon Despres saw the ice.
Even with the above line configurations, no moves proved to be more instrumental in a Game 5 win than the insertions of Kennedy and Joe Vitale into the starting lineup.
Kennedy played like a Tasmanian Devil. I don’t think former Pens defenseman, Brian Strait, appreciated Kennedy’s check into the boards just over three minutes into the game – especially after Strait was called for interference on his tag-team partner, Vitale. Kennedy impressed coach Bylsma so much with his play that the Penguins coach moved him from the fourth line up to the third unit.
Vitale won nine of 10 faceoffs and continually challenged New York skaters. Six minutes and 20 seconds into the contest, Vitale charged toward a loose puck behind the Islanders net. Lubomir Visnovsky put the puck on a platter for the Penguin center rather than fight Vitale for the puck. That’s exactly what Pittsburgh needed and what New York didn’t want to see.
The Pens and Isles tied in shots (31 apiece), but Pittsburgh led in most other areas.
Faceoffs:
Pens: 37-21
Isles: 21-37
Power Play:
Pens: 1-for-4
Isles: 0-for-2
Hits:
Pens: 33
Isles: 27
Blocked Shots
Pens: 14
Isles: 9
New York missed defenseman, Andrew MacDonald, who led the team with 23:31 TOI during the regular season. Defensive whiz, Frans Nielsen, is also now reportedly hurt. He took part in the team’s optional practice Saturday morning, but it will be interesting to see how well he can play with a lower-body injury.
The Penguins are healthier than they’ve been all season long. Imagine that. After dealing with so many injuries since Day 1, Pittsburgh has no significant injuries. That news couldn’t come at a better time for the Penguins or their fans.
If the Penguins can make it through the first 10 minutes or so of Saturday’s game without falling behind, there’s a good chance they’ll wrap the series up in six games. The Islanders’ John Tavares and Kyle Okposo have both shown the ability to stand out individually. Keeping them in check will go a long way toward lifting Pittsburgh into the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Of course, now that Pittsburgh has finally settled on its top two lines it’s going to be difficult for New York to stop the Penguins, regardless of what New York does.
Game 6 Prediction: Pens win, 4-2
*****
Team Notes:
Pittsburgh is now 22-19 all-time in Game 5s and 15-7 all-time at home.
The Penguins shut out the Islanders for the second time in this series – winning both games by a combined score of 9-0. The shutouts mark the first time in Penguins’ history that they have blanked an opponent twice in a single playoff series.
The Penguins’ four goals marked the sixth straight home game they have scored three or more goals in the postseason.
The Penguins are now 7-for-20 (35%) on the powerplay after picking up a power-play marker in the third period. Their 35 percent success rate remains tops in the league.
Tomas Vokoun’s shutout was the 20th playoff shutout in team history.
Player Notes:
Tomas Vokoun stopped all 31 shots he faced to record his second career postseason shutout. His last shutout came on 4/13/04 against Detroit when he was a member of the Nashville Predators. Vokoun became the 8th goalie in Penguins history to record a shutout in the playoffs. He joined Ron Tugnutt (4/13/2000 vs. Washington) as the only goaltenders in team history to record a shutout in their first playoff game with Pittsburgh.
Kris Letang collected an assist and a power-play goal. He is now tied for the league lead in scoring among all defenseman in the playoffs with six points (2G-4A). His six points tie a career-high for scoring in a playoff series – Letang recorded six points (3G-3A) against Washington in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Sidney Crosby scored his third goal of the playoffs and is now riding a four-game point streak, including an assist on Letang’s goal in the third. He now has a point in every game of the series in which he has played (Games 2-5). This is Crosby’s third multiple point game this series.
Tyler Kennedy scored the game-winning goal for the Penguins. This is his 11th career playoff goal. Kennedy now has 10 points (6G-4A) over his past 12 playoff games.
The goal is also Kennedy’s sixth career game-winning goal in the postseason – second among all Penguins since 2007-08. Kennedy’s six playoff game-winning goals rank sixth in team history (assist: Seth Rorabaugh).
Douglas Murray scored the second goal of the night and his second goal of the playoffs. Murray’s two goals are tied for the most goals in the NHL during the postseason among defensemen. Inclduing the regular season, Murray has scored three goals over his last 11 games after going 146-consecutive games without a goal.
Evgeni Malkin assisted on Murray’s goal giving him at least a point in all five games this series (2G-7A). Malkin is now second in the league in postseason scoring with nine points.
Paul Martin’s assist on Letang’s goal is his fourth assist of the playoffs. Martin is tied for third in the league in scoring among all defensemen.
Jarome Iginla has points in all five games of the series after collecting an assist on Crosby’s goal. Iginla and Evgeni Malkin are tied for the NHL lead with seven assists.
Pascal Dupuis assisted on Crosby’s goal. He now has six points (2G-4A) in the series. He has at least a point in all five games.
Chris Kunitz assisted on Murray’s goal. He is now riding a three game point streak (2G-3A).
Attendance: 18,636 (281st consecutive sellout)
Post Game 5 Audio
Dan Bylsma
Sidney Crosby
Tomas Vokoun
Tyler Kennedy
Kris Letang
Jack Capuano
Courtesy, Pittsburgh Penguins
*****
Links ‘n At
"Penguins hope to wrap up first-round Eastern Conference playoff round tonight," the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
"Penguins notebook: Vokoun likely to start, but Bylsma doesn’t say," the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
"Crosby is a finalist for Hart Trophy, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
"Islanders look to turn tables in Game 6," the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"Penguins notebook: Bylsma keeping Penguins rested," the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"NHL Insider: Reunion with Kunitz leaves Malkin feeling fine," the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
*****
Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»