By Eric Hornick
Game 51
Pittsburgh 3, Isles 0
On Groundhog Day in Pittsburgh, the Penguins made Bill Murray proud, as they
defeated the Islanders for the 11th straight time on home-ice. Pittsburgh beat
the Isles 3-0 before another sellout crowd of 18,142 at CONSOL Energy Center in
Pittsburgh. It's their second straight shutout of the Islanders, marking the
first time since 1972-73 that the Penguins have blanked the Isles twice in one
season.
2-Goal Penguin First
The Penguins grabbed the lead at 8:08 of the first period on a power play goal
by Tyler Kennedy. It was the 13th time in 14 games that the Isles have allowed
the opening goal and a league-leading 34th time in 51 games this season
(5-25-4). Chris Kunitz doubled the advantage just over five minutes later with
his 18th goal of the season.
Power Outage
The Isles, who came into the game with the NHL's 6th highest-rated road power
play, had five opportunities after Pittsburgh grabbed the 2-0 advantage but
managed only three shots on goal. Maxime Talbot's 50th career goal (and first
in 26 games) hit an empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining put the game away;
it also gave him 100 career points. 3-0 Final.
Fight Night
This was a rough game. A hit by Talbot on Blake Comeau started it all; the
Islanders' response led to the Kennedy power play goal. Zenon Konopka and Mike
Rupp squared off in the second period. But, those who turned away from the game
before the final buzzer missed a brawl at 19:43 of the third. Rick DiPietro was
assessed 19 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. DiPietro was given an
interference penalty and then with Matt Martin squared off with Matt Cooke,
DiPietro challenged Penguin netminder Brent Johnson; Johnson dropped DiPietro
with one punch. 72 penalty minutes were assessed for the brawl, including 43 to
the Islanders. For the game, the Isles drew 58 penalty minutes and the Penguins
46.
More Minutes for Z
Konopka ended up with 23 penalty minutes, giving him 45 against the Penguins
this season and a league leading 181. He is the first Islander to record at
least 23 penalty minutes in a game since Eric Cairns had 27 against the Rangers
on February 4, 2004 and the first forward to do so since Gino Odjick had 27
against Colorado on November 17, 1998. His 181 minutes are the 22nd highest
season total in Islander history, the most by any Islander since Cairns' 189 in
2003-04, and the most by an Islander forward since Mick Vukota had 237 in
1993-94. Konopka, who is second in the NHL with 17 fights, has had a fight in
each of the last three games with Pittsburgh.
Johnson Loses Shutout
While he earned a "knockout", Brent Johnson lost out on his 15th career shutout
as both goalies were ejected. (Under NHL rules, a goaltender must play the
complete game to earn credit for a personal shutout.) He is the first goalie to
be ejected in the last minute of a potential shutout since JS Giguere was tossed
in a game between Anaheim and Calgary on December 8, 2001.
Shared Shutouts (Strange Stat of the Night)
This is the 4th shared shutout in Islander history (2 for and 2 against) and the
second time due to a goalie fight. The complete list:
· 11/1/77 Isles 9, Atlanta 0 Smith 51:25, Hogosta 8:35 (coach's
decision)
· 11/9/96 Devils 4, Isles 0 Brodeur 59:19, Dunham :41 (8:15 – 8:56 of
3rd period) (coach's decision)
· 4/4/98 Isles 3, Rangers 0 Salo 53:01, Flaherty 6:59 (goalie ejected)
· 2/2/11 Penguins 3, Isles 0 Johnson 59:43, Fleury :17 (goalie ejected)
Can't Win If You Can't Score
The Isles have been shutout six times this season, and five times under Jack
Capuano. All six shutouts have been on the road, including three times in the
last five road games.
Pittsburgh has now held the Isles scoreless for 164:26 since Josh Bailey scored
34 seconds into the second period of the Isles' shootout victory on December
29th.
Home and Road
The Penguins, despite playing without Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin, win their
fourth straight game and seventh in the last eight. Pittsburgh improves to
33-15-4 overall, and 18-9-1 at home. The Penguins are the second team in the
East to reach 70 points, and trail Philadelphia by one point.
The Isles are 16-28-7, and are 8-16-3 on the road. They are now 12-18-4 under
Jack Capuano, including 11-10-2 in the last 22. The Isles have 19 points on the
road and 20 points at home.
In the Nets
Johnson made 20 saves as he improved to 9-4-2. He's allowed 2 goals or fewer in
11 of his 14 starts this season. This was his first win since December 22nd.
Marc-Andre Fleury played the final 17 seconds.
DiPietro made 19 saves for the Islanders but suffers his 4th straight loss.
It's also the first time in his career that he has been assessed either a major
penalty or misconduct penalty. His 19 penalty minutes are the most by an
Islander goalie since at least 1988. He is the first Isles goalie to earn a
misconduct since Garth Snow (2-19-04 at Madison Square Garden) and the first to
earn a major penalty since Tommy Salo (4-4-98 vs. Rangers).
Kevin Poulin made one save in the final 17 seconds. Poulin has now stopped 222
of 239 shots in the NHL for a .929 save percentage.
Power Plays
The Isles were 0-5 on the power play while the Penguins were 1-5. The Isles
have killed 41 of 47 (87%) over the last 16 games while Pittsburgh has stopped
32 of the last 33 opponent power plays. The Penguins own the NHL's best penalty
kill (88.6%).
In the Circle
The Isles won 28 of 63 (44%) face-offs. Josh Bailey won 10 of 19.
Missing Men
Mike Mottau and Mark Eaton are out for the season. Mark Streit, Doug Weight,
Trent Hunter, Milan Jurcina and Nathan Lawson remain out. Ty Wishart and Trevor
Gillies were healthy scratches. The Isles have now lost 328 man-games to injury
– equivalent to four players each missing an entire season.
Ironmen
Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 133 games since
joining the team last season. Zenon Konopka is the only other Isle to have
played every game this season; his 63-game streak includes the final 12 games
last season for Tampa Bay. Travis Hamonic has now played 31 NHL games (all
consecutive); he has the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the
Isles.
Season Series Stats
The Penguins lead the season series three games to one (and seven points to
three). The Isles lost all three games in Pittsburgh (0-2-1) and are winless in
the Steel City for the third straight season. Pittsburgh has two trips to Long
Island remaining, on February 11 and April 8. The Penguins have beaten the
Isles 11 straight times in Pittsburgh, with the Isles earning only one point
(0-10-1). Seven of the eleven games have been decided by two goals or less.
Happy Anniversary
29 years ago today (February 2, 1982): Brent Sutter becomes the sixth rookie
in Islander history to score a hat trick, beating Washington's Dave Parro three
times. The Isles need all three goals as they defeat the Caps 7-6, extending
their winning streak to six straight games and giving Al Arbour his 400th
victory. Brother Duane assisted on all of Brent's goals, which earned him a
share of an Isles rookie club record that still stands today.
All-time, the Isles are 9-6-5 on this date despite having lost their last four
Groundhog Day games.
Up Next
Saturday, February 5 Ottawa @ Islanders 7:00pm
[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles return home to entertain Ottawa on Saturday. The Sens have beaten the
Isles twice this season, and have outscored the Isles 10-5. The Sens are 1-10-4
in their last 15 straight, and have lost eight straight since defeating the
Isles 6-4 on January 13th.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick
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