Sans Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins did not exactly bring offensive fireworks to the table against the New York Islanders. However, they did bring lots and lots of defense, as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 29 shots he saw for his 18th career shutout, 2nd shutout of the season, and 2nd career goose egg against the Islanders in a 1-0 Pens victory at the CEC. It was a spirited contest early on that featured two first-period fights, as Penguins Tyler Kennedy and Arron Asham both dropped the gloves with Islanders.
The game was scoreless until the 8:36 mark of the third period, when Penguin Craig Adams lit the lamp for the third time this season on a rebounded shot from Asham. Adams' goal stood up as the game-winner, the only one of the 31 Penguin shots that beat Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin, who was no slouch in net himself.
The Steel Curtain-esque Penguins have given up two or fewer goals in eight of their past 10 games and 25 of their last 34 contests, and now have a 2.24 goals-against average that ranks second overall behind Boston (2.16). Most of the guys will be getting some well-deserved R&R for a full week, not hitting the ice again until February 1 against the New York Rangers.
The Pens take a 31-15-4 record (and 66 points, appropriately) into this weekend's All-Star break, and currently sit second in the Atlantic division behind Philadelphia (71 points) and fourth overall in the Eastern Conference behind the Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins.
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Email: mondesishouse@gmail.com
Email: mondesishouse@gmail.com
3 comments:
Huzzah!! Hockey coverage!?
About time..
Whoa two in a row... let's not get carried away.
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