Islanders 4 – Penguins 1
PIT GAME LEADERS
Matt Murray | 33 Saves, .923 SV%
Conor Sheary | Goal (15), 2 SOG
Phil Kessel | Assist, 3 SOG
Derick Brassard | Assist, 2 SOG
The Penguins performance in Matt Murray’s return to the lineup was underwhelming to say the least.
Pittsburgh fell behind 2-0 in the first 10:33 of the game and although it was a one goal game going into the third period, it just never felt like it was going to be the Penguins night.
To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
In three games so far during a four game stretch against teams that are nine points or more out of a playoff spot, the Penguins have taken 3 out of a possible six points and the Penguins have looked like a bored team, especially in the defensive end.
Defensively the Penguins did a lot of standing around against the Islanders Tuesday night and lacked any flow as they put the Islanders on the power play five times, Pittsburgh had just one power play.
To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
When the Penguins are motivated defensively, then can put some great tape on the ice like did against the Stars on March 11. When they’re not, it’s a vulnerable group as evident all season.
This is obviously a team that might be going through the motions a bit as the regular season is winding down, which is understandable for a back-to-back champ, especially against the opposition the Penguins have seen the last three games and will again tonight vs lowly Montreal on home-ice.
The goals against on the road, though, is starting to become something to watch, especially if the Penguins finish in third place in the Metro or the unlikely scenario of being the top wildcard.
Pittsburgh is 2-5 in their last seven road games and have allowed 32 goals against during that span.
6 goals against vs Panthers, 8 goals against vs Bruins, 2 goals against vs Flyers, 5 goals against vs Leafs, 4 goals against vs Rangers, 3 goals against vs Canadiens and 4 goals against vs Islanders.
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay | 73 GP – 104 Pts
2. Boston Bruins | 71 GP – 99 Pts
3. Toronto Maple Leafs | 73 GP – 93 Pts
Metropolitan Division
1. Washington Capitals | 73 GP – 91 Pts
2. Pittsburgh Penguins | 73 GP – 87 Pts
3. Columbus Blue Jackets | 74 GP – 87 Pts
WILD CARD RACE
1. Philadelphia Flyers | 74 GP – 86 Pts
2. New Jersey Devils | 73 GP – 82 Pts
3. Florida Panthers | 71 GP – 81 Pts
— A week ago the Penguins looked pretty locked in to either first place or second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers while hanging around have been fading for two weeks, but things have tightened up dramatically with the Columbus Blue Jackets on a 9 game winning streak.
Columbus with a 5-3 win over the Rangers Tuesday night have moved into a tie with the Penguins for second place in the Metro. Pittsburgh has a game in hand.
This Columbus surge has come out of nowhere.
The Blue Jackets 3 weeks ago looked like a club that was going to squeak into the playoffs if they got in, the head coach went public in believing some players in that room were looking for the season to end than wanting to make the playoffs and now they’re back in contention for home-ice in the first round.
Sharks, Blue Jackets have hit big on rental market
The Columbus Blue Jackets made a move at the deadline in trying to add a jolt to their lineup for a stale team by adding rental players on the cheap.
They added depth to their blueline in acquiring Ian Cole (2 goals – 4 assists – +9 in 11 games) for a third round pick and then they went out and traded for Thomas Vanek who is certainly not a John Tortorella player for basically next to nothing.
The move for Vanek raised a lot of eyebrows in that it had little chance he would work with Tortorella.
So much for that.
The Blue Jackets are 9-2 with Vanek in the lineup and he has 3 goals, 5 assists at even strength and a +8 rating in 11 games. Vanek is doing the little things really well and his skilled game has been a much needed element for the Blue Jackets. Vanek lack of effort and poor play away from the puck has seen his stock become so low around the league but there’s a bigger payoff in taking a gamble on skill than just adding a 4th line plugger who will run through a wall for you.
The Blue Jackets are reaping the benefits right now.
Then there’s Evander Kane in San Jose.
To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
d any way you can post sid highlight reel goal of last night.
Hahahaha, this is great. Everybody received -5 for every post, except Sam and Maloni. They both got a +5 for every one of their posts. Is this the part where Sam complains about Stan, NPL, Gaydogg and the crew going around and thumbs downing everybody ruining the board?
Sam, you crack me up man. Keep it up, you’re entertaining.
Lmao Montreal sucks
Officially eliminated.
Zero, looks like you and Same had a date night here
Doesn’t matter who’s in goal, with this defense Pens will need four to win every night
It’s pens in the 90“s era
-5am and -5ucks starts with the same letter… coincidence?
“Always Wrong -5am”… of Star Trek fame
Kessel with another 5v5 point. He doesn’t stop.
well then, less than 5 nights off and they looked a lot better
A lot better, really? Which part of that touch and go game against the hapless Habs made you feel good
Well the fact that the names that needed to show up were actually skating for one… day what you will about the level of competition but they seemed more engaged last night than they did vs NYI. I thought at least that was noticeable for most.
Dont get that twisted either, the bar wasn’t exactly high but the team responded after going to bed for a bit allowing Montreal to scare them. That’s a positive imo
How many career assist does sid have now and now many career points does chubby have
Well as I pointed out below Kessel has more career points than Sid has assists. But when you’re supposed to be the greatest player of your generation vs a real good scoring…. that’s called no fucken duh dipshitt
Beauty shot Guentzel, that’s better… maybe he should play with third liner Kessel to get going
Clown
Clown? Nah man he scored a beauty… what’s wrong with you. Don’t be salty because you’re wrong about everything. I’m sure your cuntt whorre mother still loves you… albeit less than her regulars.
How injury prone is Price… all that money for a guy that will miss 30 games a year. What a joke
Sam is in slytherin house but as a lackey peripheral piece
Brassard suckssss zeroTool
Ok… where have I said he did moron? At best I’ve shown concern but have been in his corner. Man you’re fucken dumb lol.
Minute a player doing good you start drooling or cummming in your pants. And minute player struggles you sell him out. Suprised you haven’t sold your mom yet
I challenge you to find one moment I said anything but it’s taking a while you stupid *******. I’ve been very chill on Brassard. No wonder you lose every single argument you’re in
Unlike your stupid ass I keep my expectations pretty tempered on average lol
This coming from the guy that shits on Malkin and Kessel even when they’re killing it is rich af
That’s Brassards 4th point in as many games.
Hey -5am… at 7.25 why isn’t Letang on the first unit? In fact he’s playing more than a full minute less per game than Sid, Geno and Kessel… why?
Look what happens when Sid shows up….
What a play by Guentzel to prop that in the air for Sid to easily tap it home!
Sid with his 24th… now he is only 5 back of 3rd liner Kessel and only16 behind third line centre Malkin…
Sam: Malkin and Kessel are no better than 3rd liners
Also sam: Ya because Murray was also facing Crosby, Malkin and Kessel. What a loser
Lucky for Letang DeSmith bails out the fuck awful line change… I’d ask to trade Letang for Subban but the stupid motherfuckerr managing the Habs already traded down lol
No one wants that useless frog. He has the defensive awareness of my coffee table.
The goaltender interference rule is going to cost someone big time come the playoffs. There is no consistency to it at all. I am glad the Pens scored but that goal should not have counted. If this was a playoff game and a team won on that goal there would be an uproar.
But pens always get away when they do it when other team this to pens it wouldn’t even go to review and be waived off right away
Right… like when Dumo had a goal taken away for a complete BS call a few games back? You can’t remotely hide that you’re a fucken Habs fan. Cancel your 3 accounts and drop dead in Montreal you piece of shitt
First goal after taking it away from the refs… good call period. No way Price gets back regardless of Geno following the puck into the blue
GET LETANG THE FUCKK OFF THIS TEAM THIS OFF-SEASON. He is absolutely horrendous.
There are a handful of players that need to go this off season. No one is stupid enough to take Letang unless the Penguins eat half of his salary. Plus he has a MNTC.
I’d agree, but there are some questionable GMs out there. Outside of him, Sheary and Hunwick I don’t see any bad contracts. Hagelin is a UFA, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there.
Hags is not a UFA for another year. I would be shocked if theg could get rid of Sheary and Hunwick.
My mistake. And I’d agree, but at least neither cripples us. Signing Hunwick to a 3 year deal was beyond asinine. Sheary is still young and has shown they potential to produce, so hopefully he can find it again.
Got to love PP
Most teams do you stupid fucken retard
I don’t think he’s talking about hockey.
Haha
Geno again proving he’s the leader of this team.
So… sam come to the defence of that play for Price?
First game since injury moron get fucked you fake Canadian
Tell me what thought of Canadian goalie Murray’s performance last night…
Yeah because Murray was facing Crosby malkin kessel. Go fly a kite already
Oh so Kessel isn’t just a 3rd liner? Malkin isn’t just a lazy Russian? I mean Sid was fucking invisible anyway sooo….
Tavares… really good… Barzal… really good. Eberle, clutch Canadian no?
Look forward to this one… fucken idiot
The Pens have 238 goals for this season. The Isles have 235. Sam gets owned again.
-5am… what’s your honest opinion on Drouin?
How did drouin and Byron do on that goal
Well at 5.5 per year hit 38 points… about half of what third liner Kessel has… and Letang did fuck up bad again
Come on you stupid dumb fucken idiot… work it out…
-5am, will Kessel be playing tonight? I wasn’t sure if they were scratching him or not. Since they are playing one of the most futile teams/cities in the league, I thought maybe they’d give him a shot.
All I know is he only has the ice time because he plays the power play. If he didn’t he wouldnt be top 3 on the team for ice time by forwards…
Especially when it’s salary that dictates his icetime on the PP… no other reason than the high 7 figures is why he gets PP time. If he didn’t his TOI would be less….
Yeah benching him at 10m will look bad on the organization. And a bad investment . Haven’t you noticed clown. When a high paid players plays bad very rare gets benched or anything unless he pissed coach off and when you have a ahl player makes small mistake gets sent down right away why? Do you think. Big contract. And media stress the minute you bench a top paid player media will be all over you. Remember when ovi was benched when they needed 6th man and media was all over Barry. Why do you think.
His cap hit is 6.8. I’m not even sure wtf you are talking about. They won’t bench him because he’s a ppg guy and one of, if not, our most consistent producer. He’s outplayed Crosby for most of the year. If he were Canadian, his balls would be in your mouth right next to Sids.
Lol, benching him? You would consider benching one of the games best forwards this year? Why? Is his top 10 scoring flirting with career highs with more of a commitment to getting back really not doing it for you? Dumbfuckk
No team is futile….just look at what the islanders did to the lazy ass penguins last night… PENGUINS CANT AFFORD TO REST ANYONE THEY NEED HOME ICE IN THE FIRST ROUND BECAUSE THEY HAVE SUCKED ON THE ROAD…
You can rest after the season…
Dude… get your caps fixed A and B… maybe have someone skim over the page for you so they can help you out with the BS
Relax, yogurt. It was a dig at fat Sam the bandwagon man.
He struggles with it bad… why I’m. It convinced its yoda… yoda was stupid but not this stupid. He also didn’t do the caps thing either
I think a big part of the meh play is leave the lines ALONE…look its clear Rust-Brassard-Kessel works…just leave it. Let Sheary and Jake find themselves with Crosby and leave the 2nd line alone. The Pens have been good in the past cause they don’t switch lines around every other shift cause we dont’ score a goal. Its the NHL not Pewee scoring is hard to do. I think as far as seeding for the playoffs, who honestly cares?? Yes grabbing home ice would be nice for the first round or two but if we are a championship team we… Read more »
agreed put rust back with brassard and kessel…. why did sully move him
While I agree that I prefer stable lines HCMS has done the exact same thing his entire time here as the coach.
OK, the Brassard trade is taking a long time to pay off dividends. Brassard has started to look better but it seems many wanna look at the teams best line through the past few games and attribute any issues directly to it. I’m not saying there is no concerns at this point, there has to be, I am just wondering if there is a lot of overreactions. Crosby hasn’t been terrific since the deadline, at least compared to his pre-deadline pace, but has 2 goals and 6 assists in 8 games since the trades. Hunwick is a disaster but Ruhwedel… Read more »
when Crosby and Malkin are kept off the score sheet the result is predictible
That was the case since 09 and come playoffs team was chocking because other teams were shutting them down. That’s why they got chubby so while teams focus on them he gets to score goals and out points while his on the 3rd line with his heavy salary. Most expensive 3rd liner in the league followed by Bobby Ryan and dustin brown. Wonder what they all have in common.
Top 20 scorer since he arrived and 3rd on the team for ice time by forwards. You are a clueless fucken retard. The real world doesnt work like your video game does dip shitt. 15th best scorer in hockey since his rookie year, 11th in goals #3rdliner
Dustin Brown… 23 goals and 51 points… WAY better than Rick Nash lol
Where was brown for last 4–5 years and as for chubby of course he will be 3rd with most played in team he plays top pp when he is not on 3rd line
Getting power play time isnt a punishment you stupid fuckk… the games best are the ones on every power play in the league all time. Do you think Crosby’s minutes are all 5v5? All three of Kessel, Crosby and Malkin average near 4 minutes of PP time per game. Why are you so fucken stupid all the time? How does your tiny mind think that this is a good argument?
Last 3 seasons Nash 198 GP 59 goals and 49 assists for 108 points at 7.8 Million – 128 points over 235 games to directly compare to Brown. 7.8 x 3 / 128 = $182,813 per point Dustin Brown: 235GP 48G and 67 assists for 115 points – 5.875 million x 3 / 115 = $153,261 per point for fun… Johnathon Toews 226 GP 69G 99A for 168 points – 10.5 million x 3 / 168 = $187,500 per point Phil Kessel 237GP 78G 131A for 209 points – 8 million per x 3 / 209 = $114,833 – best… Read more »
Crosby has as many as assists as chubby has as points. He must suckk somewhere specially most of his career he is been playing with bunch of undrafted players
Specially!
Crosby career assists 699; Kessel career points 729… do you need help with the math?
One stat I found interesting… Kessel career PPP 238 / 729 = 32.65%
Crosby PPP 409 / 1104 = 37.04%
This one is damaging -5ammich… please explain. I mean if Sid is doing more damage with the man advantage than Kessel is then I guess the linemate argument takes a hit too hey?
Of course its not a punishment you clown. When you have a player at that salary you make sure he plays on pp just like subban.
“When you have a player at that salary” oh my god thats awesome… it’s the salary that gets him power play time… the salary… that’s the reason. You fucken idiot, thanks for being you
I don’t dislike brassard or the trade per se. I dislike how the local media blew it out of proportion. I dislike how it displaced Sheahan when he was playing the best hockey of his life. I still think the Pens put brassard on the wing, Sheahan 3C and go three lines heavy in the playoffs.
Guentzel shouldn’t be getting a pass. He’s been no better than Sheary
Without question, Guentzel has a nose for the net but he has to be more consistent when that puck isnt going in. I get that goal scorers go through droughts but playing soft isnt the way to get out of one.
I can agree with this on all counts. While I was excited at the prospect of adding that kind of C depth it certainly hasn’t paid off yet. Sheahan hasnt looked quite the same since and there were points where he was playing solid hockey as a 4C too.
Letang sucks
And then there was the brassard trade…The Pens lost Cole, Reaves and a shiitload of character and chemistry. Crosby has been mired in a hissy fit ever since. Other than that, the 4 center model has been a hit.
Brassard was a good move i hated to give up Ian Cole…but rutherford should have explored bring in a bottom pairing D veteran like Montreal’s Jordie Benn good in his own end would work well with Olli Matta. His contract was a one year deal at $1 million…THAT COULD HAUNT US BECAUSE hUNWICH WELL………