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Before the match
The Penguins maintain the same roster and winning lines as last night, except it’s Casey DeSmith in the net for the first time since the sixth-year picnic (Feb. 11).
First period
A pretty bland start to the second games for these two teams starting around 6-7pm after the last game ended. The Pens only record two shots on goal, both at the end of the period, and seem particularly slow.
Marcus Pettersson took a crash penalty late in the first quarter and the Islanders’ power play cashed in again. This time it’s Oliver Wahlstrom taking a pass in the wheelhouse and popping it over DeSmith’s shoulder to make NYI 1-0 late.
But the Penguins can also thank DeSmith that it’s only a 1-0 game after one and they’re still in this game because they really don’t deserve to be. Pittsburgh has done next to literally nothing with shots at 9-2 New York and 5v5 at 7-3 scoring chances, which seems about 3 too high for the Pens.
Second period
Coach Mike Sullivan is tackling the changes early, including putting Bryan Rust back with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the front row.
At around 2:30 a.m., Evgeni Malkin took a sharp penalty when he broke his stick to send the Islanders to their second and second power play of the game. The pens kill him.
Brandon Tanev is pushed to play with Malkin and Jared McCann. Kasperi Kapanen has mingled to play with Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese. The fourth line barely plays.
Guentzel then takes a penalty and Sullivan Switches continue with the unusual step of playing Crosby + Rust as the PK’ers. It didn’t work because the Islanders’ pass separated the Pens and JG Pageau scored from the slot to bring the score to 2-0.
The Pens finally get their first power play and disaster nearly strikes when Malkin loses a rebounding puck, throwing Casey Cizikas on a breakaway. Luckily, he’s groping the puck as well and doesn’t get much luck on his compatriot Casey.
The period ends, the NYI shots 16-8 in the second and 25-10 overall. About sums it all up!
Third period
The Pens are playing better, but the scoring effects and the Islanders canceled the test before and are just sitting around and relieving this baby at home. Pittsburgh has a second chance on the power play and some really good zonal time, but again, there are too many perimeter overruns and lack of movement and not much is happening.
McCann then walks over to the goalie’s interference area, which, at least, somebody leads into the net. Pittsburgh’s penalty does the job.
With just over 4 minutes left, Rust takes a fairly low interference penalty that kills two more minutes.
The Pens shoot their goalie and get a 6-5 time, but still don’t come close to goal. The game ends happily.
Some ideas
- Just no juice from the pens tonight. Quick comeback since last night, but also quick for the Islanders. Almost like Pittsburgh was pretty happy with last night’s win and riding it.
- DeSmith was a pretty bright spot though, probably the only one in this game. It was only his second game since February 1 but he was pretty sharp and played well. I can’t say that about anyone else on the team.
- Once again, Sullivan’s first reaction in a pinch is to demote Kapanen out of a Crosby / Malkin line. Weird to see. Tanev has been good lately, so it’s understandable that he takes a peek to give a spark, and Guentzel-Crosby-Rust are a proven trio, but it’s a bit telling that Kapanen is still the first. to give.
- The Pens have just started a stretch where they played 14 games in 23 days. Back to back today. Their 4th row all played 5-6 ES minutes today, in a situation where they really needed a little energy and could have used a boost. It becomes a bigger scenario that the team doesn’t have four quality and reliable lines. This is likely to become even more important as we go deeper into the season and the top players continue to get tested night after night.
- 2 goals, both on the power play for the Islanders. The power play of the pens? 0 for 2.
- But, overall, the Pens are 4-2 against the Islanders in six games this season. This is a favorable position so far.
- And it’s been 10 consecutive games that they had to play the Caps or the Islanders. It has been a difficult task for all of us and the end of a long road trip. A little variety and seeing new teams will be a welcome development.
The Pens go home and see new faces, in the Flyers from Tuesday.
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