PITTSBURGH: The New York Islanders ‘up-and-down, fast-paced tempo always seem to bring out the worst defensively in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Fortunately, for the Penguins, captain Sidney Crosby was there, helping his team prevent a second home collapse in four weeks against the upstart Islanders.
Crosby scored with 1:16 remaining on Friday to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Islanders during a game that saw New York rally from a pair of two two-goal deficits for the second time in two games against Pittsburgh.
“We had the lead, so they started taking chances, and we kind of got sucked into playing that style of game,” Crosby said.
“Instead of managing the puck, we were taking chances and throwing the puck everywhere, and when you play that game, whoever scores the last goal is going to win.”
That’s exactly what happened and Crosby provided the late game-winner. Crosby’s 12th goal of the season was also the 250th of his career, and the Penguins’ captain also had an assist. Chris Kunitz had two goals and an assist, Evgeni Malkin added a goal and two assists, and James Neal had two assists. Malkin’s goal ended his career-high 15-game scoring drought.
Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff, playing for the first time since Nov. 2, stopped 32 shots in his fourth NHL start.
“We had a lot of chances, but that wasn’t our best game,” Crosby said.
“We probably could’ve put it away early, but they hung around.”
Thomas Vanek scored twice for the Islanders in his first game after missing five with an upper-body injury. Vanek has three goals and two assists with New York since being acquired from Buffalo last month. Colin McDonald also got his second of the season for New York. Kevin Poulin made 30 saves for the Islanders. He started his sixth straight game in place of injured starter Evgeni Nabokov, who is out with a groin injury.
Agencies
