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Before the match
A multitude of changes for the penguins. Jared McCann is back from the IR, and Mark Jankowski is injured on a daily basis. Anthony Angello is making his first NHL game of the season while Drew O’Connor is also out.
First period
The Penguins get two power plays in the first period and do nothing with them. Tristan Jarry is doing his part to keep his team in a scrambling game to find the puck and stop Jordan Eberle.
But then the Islanders took advantage of their first and only power play chance of the game with Brock Nelson posting in net and flipping into Oliver Wahlstrom’s center shot / pass to give NYI a 1-0 lead with 1: 20 to play. the period.
Shots total in the first is 9-7 NYI, 5v5 Corsi is a 50-50 split. NYI has a 6-5 chance advantage with a 2-0 5v5 high danger chance advantage.
Second period
The Pens fall behind 2-0 at just 1:34 when Mat Barzal has unlimited time and space to dive into the attacking zone and his shot floats on a rebound and passes Tristan Jarry.
As we’ve seen time and time again, the Pens don’t just lie down and make it easier, they hit back. And it’s the maligned power play that strikes to make it a 2-1 game thanks to Sidney Crosby winning a PP face-off and getting a pass from Kris Letang and slapping it as Semyon Varlamov loses his footing and is out of position. .
Barely 26 seconds later, the pens equalize the game as Kasperi Kapanen passes from behind the net to Letang who shoots quickly to the other end of Semyon Varlamov and it’s another 2-2 game as Letang catches up. Varlamov and very deep in his net for another dubious kind of goalkeeper, but it matters all the same.
The Pens spoiled a power play chance and later in the period Josh Bailey struck in net to put the Islanders back to a 3-2 lead.
The shots in the second are 11-6 Pens as they fight in the game, but still have a deficit to overcome in the final 20 minutes.
Third period
The Pens come out strong and with just 18 seconds Jared McCann makes a triumphant return from the IR to shoot in a rushing shot from an Evgeni Malkin setup to tie the game at 3 pieces.
Shots in the third are 11-6 islands as the pens hang on courtesy of Jarry to extend play.
Over time
With just 26 seconds left in the extra period, Kris Letang makes an excellent play to skate the puck with the 3v3 open ice and scores in the race as JG Pageau deflects his shot, but not enough as he floats past Varlamov.
Some ideas
- Pens’ resilience has been on display a lot this season and was on display again tonight. They fell behind 2-0 on the road to a notoriously great defensive team. Regardless, they made it 2-2 in a hurry. They fell behind 3-2 again but struck quickly early in the third to tie. This team isn’t perfect but continues to find ways to dig deep and hang around.
- And much of the credit goes to Jarry. It’s the classic game when in January or early February they weren’t getting enough NHL goalies. But the past few weeks, they’ve figured it out and Jarry has done more than his part to keep his team in games long enough for them to understand it.
- On the other side, Varlamov was quite fragile in what has been a very strong season. But a team needs to take advantage of mistakes and mistakes and make the opposition pay, and the Pens have done it.
- With Jared McCann in the second row, it was one of Evgeni Malkin’s best games in a long time. All of the McCanns, Malkin and Bryan Rust were 60% + Corsi players and the line had an expected goal rate of 70% to lead the team and for the first time perhaps all season, the Pens’ second line was a contributory force.
- Letang’s season is fast approaching. 2 goals and an assist tonight over 25 minutes of ice time to help fuel the offense.
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A big road win for the Pens to get a positive result of it against a very tight opponent. Pittsburgh goes 4-1-0 over NYI on the season so far, with another game tomorrow with really giving them a chance to dominate and make a statement going forward and bank points. if they can find a way again to build a winner again.
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