Crosby, Fleury lead Penguins to the Promise Land
By Nate Temple
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 in their first game of 2016.
Pittsburgh wasted no time in getting out to a good start. They peppered former Penguin backup Thomas Greiss early with shots, beat the Islanders to loose pucks, and generated a speedy forecheck that pinned them in their own zone for an extended period of time.
The good guys reaped the benefits at 3:34 of the first period. Phil Kessel received a pass from Matt Cullen behind the net and banked a shot off of the shoulder of Greiss and into the yawning cage for his 12th goal of the season.
After failing to convert on their first power play, the Islanders game the Penguins another crack at it when Anders Lee was whistled for holding defenseman Trevor Daley to put Pittsburgh on its second man advantage of the period. Sidney Crosby roofed a shot 1:01 later when Greiss failed to swallow up a shot from Evgeni Malkin to make the score 2-0. The Penguins registered 20 shots on goal after 20 minutes of play.
The Islanders, who are in the bottom-third in the league in penalty minutes, ran into penalty trouble again around the halfway mark of the second period when bruising fourth-liner Matt Martin was escorted to the box after boarding Daley to put the Penguins on the power play for the third consecutive time.
With a quarter of the two minute penalty completed, No. 87 cashed in for his 11th goal of the season and second power-play goal of the game. He snapped a shot top right corner just under the bar from the right circle after defenseman Kris Letang spotted the Captain wide uncovered to increase the lead to three goals.
The Penguins would find themselves shorthanded for the first time in the contest when rookie Conor Sheary hooked Brian Strait.
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However, they found a way to provide more misery for the Islanders.
After Frans Nielson pinched along the half-boards in an attempt to keep the play alive, Letang shoveled a pass to Cullen that Nielson’s stick to force a two-on-one against defenseman Nick Leddy. Despite looking at Fehr as an option to pass to, Cullen called his own number and it paid dividends when he beat Greiss low blocker side.
That would be the last shot the German net minder faced in the game. Backup Christopher Gibson relieved Greiss of his duties.
Pittsburgh answered with their fifth unanswered goal just a shade under four minutes later when Patric Hornqvist redirected a Brian Dumoulin shot from the point around the high slot. The shot was Gibson’s second he faced in his relief appearance.
John Tavares tallied the first goal for the Brooklyn boys 39 seconds later, and Leddy scored with 56.3 seconds left in the game to round out the scoring for both teams.
In his first game back from injury, Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 38 saves on 40 shots to earn his 14th win of the season.
Eight different Penguins helped contribute on the scoresheet, including a two-goal effort from Crosby. Letang and Malkin dished out three assists each.
Takeaways from tonight’s game
Stay hot, power play
Prior to tonight’s contest, the Penguins converted at a 35.3% (6-for-17) clip on the man advantage in the last five games. Tonight, they struck twice out of four opportunities. Even though Crosby dented twine on both conversions, the Penguins were very crisp in their passing, they out-hustled the Islanders to fifty-fifty pucks along the boards, and they forced the opposition to break down on themselves. Pittsburgh’s power play now ranks 17th in the league after beginning the night ranked 22nd.
Welcome back, Flower
With their elite goaltender back in the crease tonight, there was a much different persona to the team. Fleury allows the Penguins to take chances at times because the team knows that in a case of a mistake, he can bail them out. Matt Murray was the better filler than Jeff Zatkoff during Fleury’s absence, but this team could not afford to lose No. 29 for much longer.
Next: Penguins tango with division foe Islanders
The leaders stepped up
Crosby, Letang, and Malkin combined for eight points between them (two goals, six assists) and Fleury stood tall with 38 saves. The core players are finally contributing in big ways at the same time. The continued belief in the process after the coaching change is paying off. Even though the season has looked bleak for the most part in the eyes of Penguins fans, the team is only two points out from the final wild card spot and three points away from tying for the top wild card spot.
The Penguins won for the fourth time in six games and will look for continued success when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday for the first meeting of a home-and-home series.