By Chris Bradford
Beaver County Times
cbradford@timesonline.com | Posted: Friday, May 3, 2013 11:24 pm
A shot by New York Islanders' Kyle Okposo, not seen, slides between the legs of Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL
RECAP
PITTSBURGH – It would be tempting to say the Penguins lost Game 2 of their first-round series because of one bad bounce. It would also be wrong.
Kyle Okposo’s fluky goal that caromed off the end boards and behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with 7:37 remaining was only the margin of victory in the Islanders’ 4-3 win Friday night. In truth, the Penguins let the game get away from them well beforehand.
Not even the return of Sidney Crosby, who scored two goals in his first game since March 30, could save the Penguins from themselves. Poor puck management – 11 turnovers to New York’s two -- was the key culprit as the Islanders overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to even the series at a game apiece.
“We were preparing for a seven-game grind of a series and now we are in one,” said coach Dan Bylsma.
It didn’t appear that would be the case when Evgeni Malkin scored just :43 into Game 2. Crosby scored both his goals in the first 7:22 as the Penguins took what appeared to be a commanding 3-1 lead.
If anyone thought it was going to be a sweep, they forgot to tell the Islanders, who out-shot the Penguins 42-33. It was the most shots the Penguins allowed all season.
“We just didn’t have a good game,” said Penguins center Brandon Sutter. “We’ve got a few more big ones on the Island here. We know we have to play better. We expected them to pay better and they did. We have to respond.”
Matt Moulson, Andrew MacDonald and Matt Martin scored for New York, who host Games 3 and 4 Sunday and Tuesday in Uniondale, N.Y.
NOTEWORTHY
* C Sidney Crosby scored two goals, his first multi-goal playoff game since April 20, 2010 at Ottawa (two goals). It was his sixth career postseason multi-goal game and just the second on home ice (May 28, 2008, Game 3 vs. Detroit).
* Crosby’s 35 career playoff goals are good for fourth all-time in franchise history.
* The loss was the Penguins’ fourth straight in Game 2s. Since 2009, they had gone 3-6 in the second game of series. Their all-time record in Game 2s falls to 31-22 overall and 22-9 on home ice.
* The Penguins gave up 42 shots on goal, the first time they have allowed 40-plus shots to an opponent since the Game 5 triple-overtime defeat to the Senators on April 21, 2009.
* C Evgeni Malkin’s goal just 43 seconds in was the fastest by a Penguin to start a game since Crosby scored 15 seconds into the first period against the Flyers on April 15, 2012. Malkin now has 33 career playoff goals, good for fifth all-time in franchise postseason history.
* Malkin later added an assist, giving him 26 career multi-point games in the playoffs. Malkin added a game-high 10 shots on goal.
* RW Jarome Iginla picked up two assists, giving him back-to-back multi-point games and 16 for his career. Iginla and Malkin lead all scorers in the playoffs with four points apiece.
* D Matt Niskanen got into a second-period fight with Islanders’ RW Kyle Okposo, though he seemed to get the better of the larger Okposo, he was cut below the left eye. He left the game to receive medical treatment, but would return to play 18:50 on the night.
* D Mark Eaton, who picked up zero points during the regular season, earned an assist on Crosby’s second goal giving him points in back-to-back playoff games for the second time in his career.
* With the Penguins first-period power-play goal they have now scored in seven straight playoff games with the man-advantage. They are 12-for-34 (35.2 percent) over that same span.
* The Penguins, who had been perfect on the penalty kill through nine games, saw the streak end when Islanders LW Matt Moulson scored a first-period power play goal. They have killed off 7 of 8 Islanders opportunities in the series.
* The Penguins lost on the scoreboard, but won the faceoff battle (61 percent to 39). LW Jussi Jokinen led the way winning 88 percent (7-of-8) of his faceoffs.
* G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 38 of the 42 shots that he faced, while his counterpart Evgeni Nabokov stopped 30 of 33 for the Islanders.
* After holding Islanders’ C John Tavares to zero shots on goal during Game 1, the Penguins saw him put six shots and add his first career playoff point, an assist on Moulson’s power-play goal.
* Moulson, who was drafted by the Penguins in the ninth round of the 2003 draft, picked up two points (one goal).
* Former Penguin D Brian Strait, who recently rejoined the Islanders lineup after missing time with a broken ankle, registered a plus-1, one shot on goal, three hits and a blocked shot over 21:09.
* The Penguins pushed their sellout streak to 280 games in a row with 18,624 in attendance.
Compiled by Brian Metzer, Times Hockey Correspondent
KEY PLAY
After clawing their way back to tie the game and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury “under siege” as coach Dan Bylsma put it, the Islanders’ pulled ahead for good at the 12:23 mark when Kyle Okposo turned around from the high slot and whipped a wrist shot off the end boards that caromed in when the puck hit Fleury in the back and in. Home ice advantage for the Penguins? Not so much. It was actually the second New York goal that was the direct result of a funky bounce off the lively boards at Consol Energy Center.
“They worked hard, they played hard on us, they had a good forecheck and they shoot the puck,” said defenseman Kris Letang. “They created their own luck.”
Chris Bradford
HIDDEN STAT
75: The number of consecutive playoff games that D Brooks Orpik had played before missing Games 1 and 2. Prior to that, Orpik had appeared in every Penguins playoff game during their current streak of seven-straight postseason appearances. G Marc-Andre Fleury is now the lone Penguin to appear in all 77 playoff games Pittsburgh has played dating back to the 2007 postseason. Brian Metzer
QUOTABLE
“Maybe a little. Last year seemed more chaotic. A lot of it tonight was just us shooting ourselves in the foot. Just sloppy puck play and not taking care of it. We’re in the right positions and we didn’t do anything stupid discipline-wise I don’t think. Just things that we can correct, make better plays with the puck.”
-- D Matt Niskanen on if the Game 2 loss felt a little similar to how things went last season against the Flyers.
THREE STARS
1. Matt Moulson, NYI
2. Sidney Crosby, Pit.
3. Kyle Okposo, NYI
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