- Last Updated: 5:12 AM, May 2, 2013
- Posted: 1:51 AM, May 2, 2013
PITTSBURGH — It would have been near impossible to imagine a way in which this postseason could have started any worse.
The welcome-back-to-the-playoffs gift the Islanders received was a 5-0 thumping at the hands of the top-seeded Penguins last night at the CONSOL Energy Center, a game that was as complete in its dominance as it was in its demoralization.
“It’s frustrating and it’s a little embarrassing, too,” said forward Colin McDonald, slumped at his locker looking as beaten as could be. “We have to find a way to put this one behind us.”
That might be easier said than done, as the 0-1 hole in this best-of-seven, first-round series seems right now to be about as insurmountable as one could imagine. The Penguins were playing without Hart Trophy favorite Sidney Crosby (broken jaw), stout defenseman Brooks Orpik (lower body), and for the majority of the final two periods without sniper James Neal (ankle).
NHLI via Getty Images
FLAT LINER: Matt Martin hits the ice as he battles the Penguins’ Douglas Murray for the puck during last night’s 5-0 loss in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series in Pittsburgh.
Yet they still mopped the ice with the young and inexperienced Islanders, who hope they didn’t break their franchise’s six-year postseason drought just to be wiped out without a fight.
“Obviously we’re not going to win with that effort,” said the Isles star center John Tavares, who was almost entirely negated by the physical and smart blue-line combo of Douglas Murray and Kris Letang. “We’ve got to move on, we’ve got to be better. That wasn’t very good at all.”
There could have been some nerves for the Islanders, who played well down the stretch of the regular season to secure the eighth seed, but still had a roster where 15 of the 20 players were making their postseason debuts. So just 3:30 into the game, with the new Igloo rocking, the Penguins got a power-play goal from rookie fourth-liner Beau Bennett, the 1-0 lead turning into 2-0 after Pascal Dupuis got the first of his two on the night just 10 minutes later.
By 1:51 into the second, the Penguins had scored another two goals within 32 seconds of each other coming off a back-breaking tripping penalty on Marty Reasoner. Down 4-0, coach Jack Capuano pulled goalie Evgeni Nabokov for 23-year-old rookie Kevin Poulin and just about conceded his team’s fate in its first taste of the postseason.
“Somebody said it in the locker room, it’s got to hurt to play,” said Nabokov, the veteran leader now with 81 games of postseason experience. “It’s too easy. We have to come out next game and we have to be ready, be more physical, and just make it hard on them every inch of the ice.”
Nabokov added that while with the Sharks he remembered a game when his team was blown out by the Red Wings, only to fight back to win the next one. But this is not the same Sharks team he was on, and he’s aware of that. He just hopes the rest of the team does, as well, otherwise Game 2 tomorrow night might be another fall on the way down.
“We have to battle them for every inch of the ice because that’s the only way we can play with that team,” Nabokov said. “They’re too skilled, they’re too good.”
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