The Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Friday night.
The meeting was the first between the two teams after the grueling six-game playoff series between them last spring. The Penguins won the series in six games.
The Islanders got off to a solid start in the game and dominated possession. They broke through on a powerplay goal from Matt Moulson. Captain John Tavares took a pass on the right side boards and threw it to Frans Nielsen in the slot. Nielsen redirected the shot at the goal where Moulson took a few whacks it before finally beating goalie Jeff Zatkoff at the 10:14 mark. However, the lead would not last as the Penguins scored on a rush shortly after squandering a powerplay opportunity. Brandon Sutter fired a shot that Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov stopped. However, the puck was redirected into the slot where Jussi Jokinen fired entered into an empty net to tie the score at 1-1. The Penguins led the shot count 14-8 after 20 minutes of play.
The Penguins took advantage of the game in the second period and took a 2-1 lead when Isles defenseman Matt Donavan misfired a shot from the point. The puck came to Chris Kunitz who dished it off to Sidney Crosby. Crosby skated up on the right wing side and fired the shot past Nabokov. After two periods of play the Penguins held a 34-18 shot advantage but had gone 0-for-5 on the powerplay.
The Penguins looked to add to their lead and nearly six minutes in when Crosby managed a breakaway against Nabokov. The Penguin superstar tried to go five-hole on the keeper, but Nabokov made a huge save to keep the score 2-1. The Islanders would draw even at the 12:46 mark when Thomas Hickey fired a pass that was redirected into the net by Nielsen. However, the score would not last as Deryk Engelland redirected a pass from Joe Vitale into the net at the 13:02 mark. 53 seconds later Pierre-Marc Bouchard would tie up the score once more with a nifty deke through Zatkoff's legs. The Islanders would take the lead after a rush up the ice led by Josh Baily and Kyle Okposo; Bailey eventually wacked the puck past Zatkoff to give the Isles the lead with only 1:40 remaining in the game.
Watch Highlights here.
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