The Pittsburgh Penguins may have missed last season’s MVP and scoring champion but they still had Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Behind a hat trick from Kunitz and five assists from Sidney Crosby, the Penguins blew out the Islanders to run their win streak to a season high, five games.
Evgeni Malkin was ruled out after sustaining a shoulder injury in Saturday night’s game against Toronto. James van Riemsdyk crushed Malkin into the boards late in the third period and Malkin left the game shortly thereafter.
The Penguins wouldn’t need him.
Pascal Dupuis opened the scoring with his tenth goal of the season. Dupuis snapped a shot from a sharp angle and the puck bounced off the near post, then off Evgeni Nabokov’s skate, before going in the net.
The Islanders took two penalties within 45 seconds to give the Penguins a brief two man advantage. As the first penalty was expiring Chris Kunitz added a goal to put the Pens up two. Sidney Crosby sent the puck to the goal line to James Neal who quickly snapped a pass to Kunitz in front of the net for the tip-in goal.
Kunitz added a second goal three minutes later, again assisted by Crosby and Neal. Crosby sent the puck to Kunitz who was cutting towards the slot. Kunitz kicked the puck to Neal who drove the net wide before backhanding a pass to Kunitz in front of the net.
One of the Penguins’ biggest problems this year had been defending leads. They blew a two goal lead the night before against the Maple Leafs and looked well on their way towards blowing another lead after Brad Boyes scored during an odd man rush eight minutes into the second period. Simon Despres lost an edge which gave Boyes more than enough space to snipe a shot past Tomas Vokoun.
The Penguins quickly erased all doubt, however, scoring two goals to close out the second period.
Chris Kunitz finished off the hat trick with another goal at the doorstep of the net. Crosby drove wide with the puck and dished a perfect pass to Kris Letang for a one-timer. Letang’s shot produced a big rebound for Kunitz who quickly snapped the puck past Nabokov. The 265th sell out crowd at Consol Energy Center sent 18,000+ sock monkeys, given away to fans as a promotion.
Just 16 seconds later, James Neal added a breakaway goal to put the game out of reach. Neal pounced a puck after the Islanders’ defensemen were caught during a clearing attempt off the boards, and buried a shot five-hole.
Pascal Dupuis added his second goal of the game 6:39 into the third to put salt in the wound for the New York Islanders. The Penguins continued to attack the Islander net and eventually closed the game out with a 6-1 final score.
- The Penguins have a league-leading, 97 goals.
- Sidney Crosby has 37 points in his last 19 games.
- Chris Kunitz has eight goals in five games in the month of March.
Three Stars
- Chris Kunitz
- Sidney Crosby
- Pascal Dupuis
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
