The last time Tomas Vokoun started in a playoff game, he was a member of the 2007 Nashville Predators that lost to the San Jose Sharks, tended by Evgeni Nabokov, in the opening round.
After Vokoun’s performance Thursday night, he has a chance to return the favor to Nabokov on Saturday in Long Island. Vokoun stopped all 31 shots earning his second career playoff shutout, and Sidney Crosby tallied three points as the Penguins dominated the Islanders 4-0, pushing the division rival from Long Island to an elimination game.
Vokoun replaced Marc-Andre Fleury after an abysmal Game 4 that allowed six Islander goals on 24 shots. In stepped Vokoun who, after looking shaky early in the game, gained confidence and turned away the Islanders at every opportunity including Kyle Okposo on a partial breakaway.
Dan Bylsma didn’t just start Vokoun for Game 5, he also injected Joe Vitale, Tyler Kennedy, Simon Despres into the lineup to combat the speedy Islanders. Those players replaced Jussi Jokinen, Mark Eaton, and Tanner Glass. The moves worked as Kennedy and Vitale provided an energy boost right off the bat, drawing a penalty just 3:24 into the game.
The defense tightened up for the Penguins who didn’t allow a shot for the first seven and a half minutes of the game. By the end of the period, the Islanders had outshot the Penguins 14-7 but neither team was able to get on the board.
The Penguins broke the game open in the second period.
Tyler Kennedy, who had been a force all game up to that point, took a perfect stretch pass from Kris Letang and skated in on Nabokov on the breakaway. Kennedy wasted no time, firing a wrist shot over the glove hand of the netminder to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Just over a minute later, Douglas Murray added his second goal of the playoffs after Nabokov flubbed a save attempt of his own. Murray’s shot hit Nabokov’s left shoulder before bouncing behind him and into the net.
John Tavares was stopped by the left pad of Vokoun after trying to split the defense with some nifty stickhandling. Then, Sidney Crosby scored an iconic goal blow the top off the Consol Energy Center.
Crosby took the puck from Jarome Iginla at center ice and cut between two Islander defensemen. He muscled his way past the defense, kept control of the puck then beat Nabokov with a blistering far-side wrist shot. The goal was reminiscent of Mario Lemieux’s goal from December 20th, 1988 against the Islanders, depicted by the larger-than-life statue outside the front entrance of the arena.
Kris Letang scored on the power play five minutes into the third period on a one-timer setup by Sidney Crosby’s unbelievable backhanded pass.
Four goals was more than enough as the Penguins locked it down the rest of the game to preserve the shutout. The Islanders only registered six shots on goal in the third period and showed their frustration taking several penalties as time was winding down.
The Penguins will have an opportunity to close out the series Saturday at Nassau Colisseum. The game is slated for a 7:30 start after the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated by the Ottawa Senators, Thursday night.
- Nabokov has a 4.69 GAA with a .847 save percentage through five games.
- Douglas Murray and Kris Letang are tied for the league lead in goals by defensemen.
- Vokoun’s last playoff start was April 20th, 2007. His previous shutout was on April 13th, 2004.
Three Stars
- Tomas Vokoun
- Sidney Crosby
- Tyler Kennedy
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
