Penguins-Islanders postgame

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 23:05

Written by Dave Molinari

Final score: Islanders 4, Penguins 1.

Why it matters: The Penguins lost for the third time in four games and looked positively dreadful doing it. They also remain one of just three teams without a victory on home ice this season, joining Nashville (0-0-2) and Toronto (0-2).

In a nutshell: The Islanders played a solid road game and got quality goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov, who raised his all-time record against the Penguins to 10-2 and came within 69 seconds of shutting them out for the third time. New York dominated special-teams play, scoring on both of its power plays while limiting the Penguins to a handful of shots during nine minutes with the extra man. Casey Cizikas put New York in front to stay with a wraparound goal at 16:01 of the first period, and the Islanders never looked back.

Turning point: New York set the tone for the evening when it killed a boarding minor assessed to Kyle Okposo at 4:57 of the first period and actually outshot the Penguins, 2-0, in the process.

Under the radar: Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic had been expected to miss the game because of an ankle injury but ended up playing 25 minutes and six seconds, second-highest total on the team, and blocking a team-high three shots.

The brightest star: Nabokov usually is at the top of his game when he faces the Penguins, and this was no exception. He wasn't compelled to make many exceptional stops, but did turn aside everything that came his way until Pascal Dupuis beat him from the edge of the crease at 18:51 of the third period. By then, all Dupuis' goal accomplished was to prevent the Penguins from being shut out at home by the Islanders for the first time since 1986.

The last word: Left winger Chris Kunitz, on the Penguins being booed by the Consol Energy Center crowd: "We're not putting a very good product out there. They're coming to watch supposedly a good team that goes out and plays, and we're not doing that right now. That's what we've got to expect if that's how we're going to play."