After erasing a 1-0 deficit in the first period and taking a lead in a mostly uneventful second period, the Pittsburgh Penguins (7-3-0) ended up on the wrong side of a wild finish at Consol Energy Center Friday night.
With a Metropolitan Division opponent, the New York Islanders (4-3-3), in town following three days off, the Penguins had an opportunity to pick up an important two points and get back on the right track after Monday’s loss to Colorado. Matt Moulson netted the game’s first goal at 10:14 of the first period on a power play, but about three minutes later, Jussi Jokinen tied the game by swatting a rebound past veteran Evgeni Nabokov. The Islanders and Nabokov otherwise avoided what could have been significant trouble in the first period by killing four Penguins power plays.
Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the second period and rookie backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who gave Marc-Andre Fleury a night off in advance of tomorrow’s game at Toronto, was solid through two periods and appeared poised for his first NHL win after a poor first outing at Florida earlier in the season. Zatkoff, however, would allow Islanders defenseman Frans Nielsen to score his sixth goal of the year, tying the game 2-2 at 12:46 of the final period. Just 16 seconds later, Derek Engelland scored his first of the season for the Penguins to regain the lead and send the announced crowd of 18,664 into a frenzy. Not even a minute later, the Islanders tied it again on the first of the year for Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
With the score knotted at 3-3, New York’s Jeff Bailey was robbed by Zatkoff, but scored on a rebound when the Pens goaltender lost his footing and Bailey was able to slap it by for what would prove to be the game-winner at 18:20 of the third period. Zatkoff ended up allowing four goals on just 25 Islanders shots, while Nabokov made 39 saves on the other end to earn the win. Pittsburgh outshot New York 42-25, won the faceoff battle 48-27, but went 0-5 on the power play after going 0-7 in the previous game. The Islanders scored on their only power play of the night and can certainly credit a superb penalty killing effort for contributing greatly to the victory.
Crosby was the game’s third star, due in part to his league-leading 18th point of the season (8 goals, 10 assists). Islanders Josh Bailey (game-winner) and Frans Nielsen were the game’s second and first starts, respectively. The Penguins hit the road Saturday night, visiting Toronto (7-4-0), which lost to Columbus on Friday.
