Penguins No Show in 5-1 Loss to Islanders
“The Islanders have come ready to play this game.” So said Penguins color announcer Bob Errey while describing the action during last night’s Pens-Islanders game at UBS Arena.
The inference that our Pens didn’t was wholly accurate. With the exception of about a five-minute window of the first period after we tied the score and a mild pushback in the third period when the game had long since been decided, we invested little sweat equity in last night’s embarrassing 5-1 loss.
Numbers don’t always tell the story. They did last night. The Islanders owned us. They held a decisive edge in shot attempts (81-47), shots on goal (42-21), scoring chances (43-18), high danger chances (20-6) and faceoffs (54 percent).
While the Pens appeared to regard the game as a post-holiday reunion of sorts, play-by-play man Steve Mears said the Islanders viewed this game as a springboard for a playoff push and it showed. They opened the game as if shot from a cannon. Following a ghastly turnover in our zone by Evgeni Malkin’s line, big Anders Lee ripped a shot home from the right faceoff circle just 63 seconds in.