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The Penguins "stunning" depth looked outmatched by the Islanders top-nine today, as they were outchanced 21-12 and recorded only eight scoring chances at even strength. I don't care how talented your lineup is, this kind of offensive production isn't going to cut it in the playoffs even if they advance out of the first round. Yet, despite having such a low offensive output, the Pens were able to beat Nabokov five times and convert on a little under half of their scoring chances. Whether you want to chalk it up to a strong power play, luck, "killer instinct," "efficiency" or brutal goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov  is up to you, but the Pens seemed to have the golden touch whenever they shot the puck today for whatever reason

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Michael Jordan had the ball.  The game was on the line.  He drove to the free-throw line, stepped back on Byron Russell. Iconic moment in NBA history.  Even if you don't like the NBA, you remember that play.

Now imagine, directly after that, some marginal NBA player and a horrible former GM got on National TV and said, "Jordan pushed off; that is embarrassing. That is a soft no-call."

Maybe that is a little extreme. Imagine if Lebron James got himself fouled and won the game at the free-throw line.  Would the NBA studio hosts go on to call Lebron James a diver?  A fraud?  The face of their league, the best player in the world. Would they?

On Sunday, Sidney Crosby made this play:

Game on the line, playing with a mask that makes him look like Master Shredder. Crosby got a matchup he liked, drove to the net, and drew a penalty.  The Pens went on to score the game-winning goal on the ensuing powerplay. (Oh, by the way, Crosby assisted on it.)

National TV game.  Broadcast over. Internet buzzing.  They throw it back to the studio, and we get this:

Wow.  Crosby went down a little too easy, we hear?

If that was Lebron James driving down the lane late in OT, getting fouled and winning the game at the free-throw line, the studio would love it. The brilliance of the play would be celebrated, not mocked.

The NBA celebrates that.  But, no, the NHL puts two hacks on NBC, and they tell a national audience the best player in their game is a diver.

Even if Crosby dove (he didn't; he drew a penalty), why say that?  Now"the "casual fan" thinks Crosby is a diver.  Well done.

The NHL has four to five times a year to get to a casual fan.  Now they let Jeremy Roenick and some hack former GM make their game look like a joke.  How dumb is it that NBC will show unlimited commercials featuring Crosby throughout the playoffs, but you've already branded him as soft and called him a diver?

And, hey, we're not saying that people shouldn't speak their minds, but how about someone that can actually do so without undermining your entire league?  The NBA studio shows do it.  But, no, the NHL would rather have Mike Milbury troll Sidney Crosby and even Alex Ovechkin.  They'd rather have Jeremy Roenick go to Twitter and taunt fanbases.

NBC has a small window to sell their game and players.  They failed once again on Sunday.

It wasn't always fun, but the Pens somehow got out of that third period and regrouped for relatively quick OT. Brian Strait went off for holding Crosby, and Kunitz cashed in on the PP.  dfandksfklsdfkldnkldfgnfgfgd

Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders
Series Tied 1-1

NBC, TSN, RDS - 12:00 pm/et

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Uniondale, NY

Are you awake? Hopefully the Penguins are. Today we'll get to see if they decided to learn anything from game two, or if this is the same Penguins team that believes their own hype and doesn't learn from their mistakes. They said pretty much all the right things in this story. Great leadership from Iginla here:

"I think we go over it -- and we have -- to see what the feeling is why we didn't win. What is the reason we got beat?" Iginla said. "Our execution could be better. They came out harder -- give them credit -- but we didn't make plays that we can make, simple things. We weren't as sharp.

"We regroup. We see what we didn't do. We go out for another game. It's just the next game to try make it 2-1."

That's the kind of attitude the Pens need right now. Don't dwell on the loss, but look back on it, learn from it and realize what you could have done better. Will they?

Pic of towels layed out at the Nassau Coliseum. Marks the first time Isle fans get something free since most of the fathers in attendance first jail stint at Rikers Island.

-- Oh hey remember that crazy Mom that trolled James Neal? She's back.

"He and his mom have attended a lot of practices but this happened unexpectedly."

GIF of the day

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Sidney Crosby scored two goals in his return and Evgeni Malkin added another, but the Isles came back from a 3-1 Penguins lead to win game two by a score of 4-3. Kyle Okposo got his first Playoff goal and it turned out to be the game winning goal.

The Pens lost their first playoff game ever when Malkin and Crosby both score. They were 9-0 previously.

The Islanders simply worked harder and played their system better than the Pens did. It felt similar to the Flyers series from last year as the Pens played their opponent's style and lost because of it. The Isles dominated the Pens for most of the game.

Game three is on Sunday afternoon on Long Island. Should be an insane crowd on the Isle on Sunday. Can't dwell on this one too long.