Playoff Gameday: Pittsburgh Penguins & New York Islanders - Round One, Game Six
Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders
Penguins Lead Series 3-2
ROOT, NBCSN, MSG Plus, TSN, RDS - 7:00 pm/et
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
Tonight there are two radically different outcomes available: 1) The New York Islanders start cleaning out their lockers and planning their summer vacations, or 2) The Pittsburgh Penguins return home to play a game seven that hardly anyone thought would happen.
Which outcome will it be?
The Penguins can dominate the Islanders. They did so in game one and again in game five. But after they rolled over the Islanders in game one, they fell apart in game two and gave the Islanders life. Will the same thing happen tonight? The Islanders have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They have no margin for error and they'll come out with everything they have, because they have to. They'll give everything they have tonight because, if they don't, they'll have no tomorrow. The Penguins will have to match their level of desperation. They'll have to look at this as an elimination game as well. Can they ignore the buffer of a 3-2 series lead and end it tonight or will this series go the distance?
Add a commentA Beautiful Day for A Burial. A Brief History of Game 6
A playoff run is made up of moments. A Game 6 on the road is a separate moment altogether. For those who don't enjoy the NHL playoffs, you really can't explain it to them. But for those of us in it, the enormity cannot be measured.
There have been 10 instances where the Pens have played Game 6 on the road with a chance to clinch. They are 4-6 in those games.
A brief history:
Colligan: Breaking down the Pens PK.
Mike Colligan delivers a monster piece here.
This year, the unit struggled throughout the regular season, (killing at only 80 percent, 25th in the league), but has been an underrated strength for the Penguins so far in their matchup with the Islanders (88%).
So what do all of these numbers mean? Why the Jekyll and Hyde act?
Assistant coach Tony Granato has directed the penalty kill for years and the system rarely varies from night to night. Even the personnel — Craig Adams, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke up front; Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Kris Letang on defense — is pretty much the same as its always been. The Penguins lost penalty killers Jordan Staal and Zbynek Michalek in the offseason, but both players were big reasons the PK unit failed in prior playoff campaigns.
One explanation is goaltending.
It is a great breakdown. Go here to read the whole thing, Colligan: How Does the Penguins Penalty Killer Work?
Add a commentSidney Crosby is a Finalist for the Hart Trophy
Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and John Tavares are the finalists for the 2013 Hart Trophy.
From the NHL:
Crosby, who previously won the Hart in 2007, finished tied for third in the League with 56 points despite sitting out the final month of the regular season with a broken jaw. He still managed to hold the lead in the League scoring race until the final week of the season, and his 1.56 points per game led the League. He also had 15 goals and a career-best plus-26 rating. His strong play helped the Penguins win the Atlantic Division title for the first time since the 2007-08 season and earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference.Add a comment
A win by Crosby would give the Penguins back-to-back Hart winners; last year's trophy went to Penguins center Evgeni Malkin.
RECAP: GAME FIVE. THE MOMENT. PENS WIN.
On June 4th, 2012, the Penguins traded for and then signed Tomas Vokoun. It was their first roster move since getting beaten by the Flyers in the playoffs.
And here he was, 11 months later, standing between the pipes for the biggest game of the season. In front of him was a team searching for confidence. Behind him was a fanbase eating itself in panic and anxiety. And he answered with a shutout, with the Pens now heading to the Isle on Saturday night to close this bitch out.
But Vokoun wasn't the only one that delivered a moment.
Tyler Kennedy.
Of all the players you would peg to deliver the Pens' biggest goal since Jordan Staal's game-tying goal in Game 4 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, it was Tyler Kennedy. Relegated to the press box after a shit regular season, TK got his chance Thursday night and was ready to perform.
CONSOL Energy Center was sphinctered up. But when Kennedy took a Norris pass from Kris Letang, spun it around across the blue line, went in alone, and picked the corner behind Nabokov, Pens fans could finally do something with all that built-up tension.
And then the Captain delivered. Sidney Crosby split the Islanders' D and scored what could become a signature goal for him. A goal that reminded many (GIF via @jonlin_) of the statue standing outside CONSOL. It put the Pens up 3-0, and it was all over but the cryin'.
And now the Pens go back to the Isle with a chance to exorcise demons of not only this series, but the Flyers series, the Lightning series, the Canadiens series, and, our favorite, the '93 series.
Recap:
QUICK CAP: Wear black to work tomorrow. Going to a funeral on Saturday.
Tyler Kennedy changed EVERYTHING.
HIs goal at the 7:25 mark of the second period got the Pens rolling. Douglas Murray followed up with a goal a minute later, and the Pens snapped out of whatever funk remained from Tuesday night.
Then Sidney Crosby did this:
Letang added a powerplay goal to make it 4-0.
And. oh. by the wa.y Tomas Vokoun shut the door in a stirring performance and got the shutout.
Game 6. 7:30. 7:08 On the Isle.
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