A day earlier, Dan Bylsma had said the playoffs are about refocusing and making adjustments.
The Penguins’ beleaguered coach did just that on Thursday night. It worked to perfection. Sparked by the insertion of Tyler Kennedy and Tomas Vokoun into the lineup, the Penguins scored a 4-0 win in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Islanders. And so a region, which was gripped in panic, can take a collective sigh of relief as the Penguins took a 3-2 series lead and can close out the series Saturday night in New York.
For the opening 20 minutes, the Penguins looked much as they had in the previous four games. However, that, and possibly the series, changed at the 7:25 mark of the second period when Kris Letang hit Kennedy with a long stretch pass at the far blue line. Kennedy, a healthy scratch in the playoffs, blew a shot past Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who was later pulled after surrendering four goals on 27 shots.
“We were hoping to get a spark, adding speed to the lineup and some grit,” said Bylsma.
Doug Murray, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang added goals and Vokoun, playing in place of struggling starter Marc-Andre Fleury, made 31 saves for the shutout.
“He had a number of big stops,” Bylsma said. “They had some good opportunities, he was very good.”
Chris Bradford
KEY MOMENT
Pittsburgh fans have been calling for Dan Bylsma to play RW Jarome Iginla on a line with Sidney Crosby since he arrived in Pittsburgh. The coach finally gave them their wish. Iginla and Crosby didn’t produce immediate dividends, but that all changed at the 14:00 minute mark of the second period when the two led the Penguins’ charge through the neutral zone and had the Islanders defense backpedaling. Iginla collected a pass from RW Pascal Dupuis and immediately slid it to Crosby, who split Islanders defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky and Thomas Hickey, cut towards the right faceoff circle and moved in on G Evgeni Nabokov. Crosby took a stride or two before releasing a wrist shot that beat Nabokov to the far glove side to put the Penguins in front 3-0. “Jarome didn’t take long to have some chemistry there with Dupuis and Crosby, not only the goal we saw, but their play in the offensive zone,” Bylsma said. “It was a good fit and a good spark for our team”.”
Brian Metzer
HIDDEN STAT
Of the 50 teams to reach the Stanley Cup Final since the NHL went to a best-of-seven first-round format, 56 percent (28) had to play six or seven games in the first round before making their run to the final.
Brian Metzer
NOTEWORTHY
-G Tomas Vokoun made his first playoff start since April 20, 2007, against San Jose Sharks while with Nashville. Vokoun made 31 saves to post the 20th playoff shutout in team history. It was also the sixth time that Vokoun has shutout the Islanders in his career. He joins Ron Tugnutt (April 13, 2000 vs. Washington) as the only goaltender in team history to record a shutout in their first playoff game with the Penguins.
-Game 5 marked the first time G Marc-Andre Fleury did not start a playoff game for the Penguins during his career. The last Penguins goalie change in the playoffs that was not due to injury was May 20, 1996, when Ken Wregget replaced Tom Barrasso for Game 2 against Florida.
l When D Douglas Murray arrived in Pittsburgh he hadn’t scored a goal in 138 games. The streak rolled on during his stint with the Penguins until he finally scored a goal against the Canadiens back on April 17 and the puck has been going in for him ever since. After scoring during the second period of Game 5, Murray now has three goals over his last 11 games stretching back into the regular season. His two playoff goals are tied for the league lead among defensemen to this point in the postseason.
-The Penguins haven’t dominated during Game 5’s over the course of their history, but pushed their record to 22-19, 15-7 on home ice, with Thursday’s win. They also pushed their record in games following 2-2 series ties to 11-8, 7-2 on home ice. The Islanders have now lost 10 consecutive Game 5s.
-Islanders C John Tavares had a three game scoring streak snapped,but managed to put a game-high six shots on goal.
-The Penguins extended their sellout streak to 281 games with 18,636 in attendance.
-The Penguins have now scored three-or-more goals in six straight postseason games on home ice.
l With their power-play goal in the third, the Penguins have now scored on 7-of-20 chances in the series and are clicking a 35 percent, which is tops in the league.
l The first period of Game 5 was just the second scoreless period of the series. The only other one was the third period of Game 1, which the Penguins won 5-0 last Wednesday.
-C Evgeni Malkin extended his scoring streak to five games when he collected an assist on Murray’s second-period goal. His nine points (two goals) place him second in the league scoring race. Malkin has now collected at least one point in nine of his past 10 postseason games. During that stretch Malkin has collected 17 points (five goals).
-RW Jarome Iginla has points in all five games of the series after collecting an assist on C Sidney Crosby’s second-period goal. Iginla is tied with teammate Malkin for the league lead in assists with seven.
-RW Pascal Dupuis also has points in all five games of the series after collecting an assist on Crosby’s goal. He pushed his series totals to four goals and two assists.
-D Kris Letang picked up two points (one goal), registered a plus-2 and put five shots on net over 24:21. He is now tied for the league lead in scoring among all defensemen in the playoffs with six points. That is a career-high for a single playoff series, matching his output against the Capitals in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
-LW Matt Cooke led the Penguins with six hits, while LW Matt Martin posted eight for the Islanders.
-Islanders G Evgeni Nabokov was chased for the second time during the series. The veteran goaltender allowed four goals on 27 shots before being relieved by Kevin Poulin, who stopped all four shots that he faced.
Brian Metzer
STORYLINES
AWARD SEASON
What the Golden Globes are to the Oscars, the Ted Lindsay Award is to the Hart Trophy. That could be good news for Sidney Crosby as the one is usually a precursor to the other. On Thursday the Penguins captain was named a finalist for the Lindsay Award, which is the players’ choice for MVP. Although the vote has already been tabulated, it would be hard to argue against Crosby after his performance in Game 5, which included a goal for the ages and a dazzling assist. Crosby, who last won the Lindsay in 2007, is a finalist along with Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. That same year Crosby also won the Hart, which is the media’s choice as MVP. Only three times in the last seven years has the Hart winner not also won the Lindsay. Despite missing a quarter of the season, it’s hardly surprising that Crosby is a finalist but he is appreciative. “It’s a great compliment when you’re recognized by guys you play against,” said Crosby. “I think that’s the main thing, not to take anything away from the other awards.” Oh, and who did Crosby vote for? St. Louis’ Lightning teammate, Steven Stamkos.
WOE, CANADA
As general manager of the Lightning, Steve Yzerman can’t be happy with his underachieving team that missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season despite the play of Lindsay finalist Steven Stamkos. As executive director of Canada’s Olympic hockey team, Yzerman can’t be too pleased either with his prospects in goal for next year in Russia. Canada may have produced some of the game’s greatest goalies of all-time Sawchuk, Dryden, Fuhr, Roy and Brodeur – but the well has run dry in recent seasons. Yzerman’s best options in net were to be Montreal’s Carey Price and the Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury. Well, you know how that is turning out during these Stanley Cup playoff. Fleury has since been pulled in favor of 36-year-old journeyman Tomas Vokoun after allowing 14 goals in the first four games of Pittsburgh’s series against the Islanders. Meanwhile, Price is out of Montreal’s series against Ottawa after sustaining a lower body injury. Price’s numbers – 3.26 GAA and .894 save percentage – are remarkably similar to Fleury’s less-than-stellar 3.40 and .891. Yzerman could be scrounging by the time next February rolls around.
PANIC AT THE CEC
How do you know when there’s widespread panic across western Pennsylvania? The best indication is when Penguins fans were clamoring en masse for Tyler Kennedy to return to the lineup, that’s when. The veteran forward was back in the lineup for Game 5 after being a healthy scratch in the previous four games and rewarded the Penguins with the opening goal of their Game 5 win. Kennedy had been a popular whipping boy among some fans for his $2 million salary as much as his 11-point (six goal) season. However, a recent study done by an associate professor of statistics at St. Lawrence University says that Kennedy – at least by his new-fangled math --- is the Penguins’ most valuable player. What? Were you expecting Sidney Crosby or Kris Letang? According to Michael Schuckers’ Total Hockey Rating, which measures how many wins an individual player is responsible for, says Kennedy was good for 6.05 wins over the previous two seasons, the best number among all Penguins. After Thursday night, it would be hard to argue with Schuckers’ logic. Chris Bradford
Chris Bradford
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