Snap Shots: Islanders Vs Penguins — 12/03/13

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Snap Shots, our condensed post-game recap of the New York Islanders latest NHL matchup

New York Islanders (8-15-4, 20pts) Vs Pittsburgh Penguins (18-9-1, 37pts)

Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY

7:00pm EST

Islanders 2 – Penguins 3 (OT)

Starting Lineup

26 Thomas Vanek – 91 John Tavares – 21 Kyle Okposo
40 Michael Grabner– 51 Frans Nielsen– 12 Josh Bailey
96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard – 16 Peter Regin – 15 Cal Clutterbuck
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 13 Colin McDonald

47 Andrew MacDonald – 3 Travis Hamonic
14 Thomas Hickey – 44 Calvin de Haan
55 Aaron Ness – 7 Matt Carkner

45 Anders Nilsson
60 Kevin Poulin

Scratches: Brock Nelson, Radek Martinek

Game Summary

The Isles got on the board first, as Kyle Okposo deflected a John Tavares shot for his seventh of the year. Minutes later Okposo connected for his eighth to give the Isles a rare 2-0 lead. Tavares with a pair of assists on the goals. Thomas Vanek took a penalty late in the period, and before it ended Aaron Ness had put the Isles down by two men with less than a minute remaining in the frame, which is how the first ended. Andrew MacDonald, as usual, led the team with 8:45 of ice time. SOG NYI 9 PGH 10

The Penguins came out strong to start the second but the Isles killed both penalties and kept rolling along. Neither team could get much going offensively, scoring no goals and combining for only 8 shots through the first half of the period.  The Isles got their first power play attempt with just over five minutes left to play but failed to capitalize. A late penalty against Tavares in the final minute led to a Pittsburgh goal, as James Neal brought the Pens to within one.  SOG NYI 8  PGH 8

A penalty-filled third frame. A Pittsburgh power play at 6:42 was the first activity of note in the third, and again the Pens struck, this time on a Sidney Crosby goal. Brooks Orpik and Matt Martin got a little scrappy and drew coincidental minors shortly after the tying goal. More chippy play, this time between Cal Clutterbuck and Malkin; they went for two apiece. With regulation winding down Malkin handed the Isles a power play but couldn’t put it away. Vanek made it a four on four in the dying seconds, and they were off to overtime. SOG NYI 6 PGH 12

Pittsburgh started OT with a four-on-three advantage but were unable to score. The Isles couldn’t get much going, failing to register a shot or get themselves organized, until Crosby put it away with his second of the night. SOG NYI 0 PGH 4

Statistics

Goals

1st Period

09:53 NYI  Kyle Okposo (7) Deflected – ASST: John Tavares (20), Thomas Vanek (10)  1-0 NYI
12:55 NYI  Kyle Okposo (8) Slapshot – ASST: John Tavares (21), Andrew MacDonald (8) 2-0 NYI

2nd Period

19:44 PGH  PPG – James Neal (9) Snap Shot – ASST: Evgeni Malkin (29), Chris Kunitz (14) 2-1 NYI

3rd Period

8:00 PGH  PPG – Sidney Crosby (14) Snap Shot – ASST: Evgeni Malkin (30) 2-2

OT

3:44 PGH Sidney Crosby (15) Wrist Shot – ASST: none 3-2 PGH

Penalties

1st Period

18:05 NYI Thomas Vanek Holding the stick – 2 mins against Evgeni Malkin
19:22 NYI Aaron Ness Hi-sticking – 2 mins against Kris Letang

2nd Period

14:49 PGH James Neal Elbowing – 2 mins against Andrew MacDonald
19:15 NYI John Tavares Cross Checking – 2 mins against Pascal Dupuis

3rd Period

6:42 NYI Aaron Ness High Sticking – 2 mins against Evgeni Malkin
8:37 NYI Matt Martin Roughing – 2 mins against Brooks Orpik
8:37 PGH Brooks Orpik Holding the Stick – 2 mins against Matt Martin
13:16 PGH Evgeni Malkin Roughing – 2 mins against Cal Clutterbuck
13:16 NYI Cal Clutterbuck Roughing – 2 mins against Evgeni Malkin
18:13 NYI Evgeni Malkin Cross Checking – 2 mins against John Tavares
19:36 NYI Thomas Vanek Slashing – 2 mins against Olli Maatta

SOG

Isles 23 – Penguins 34

Turning Point

Penalties did the Isles in tonight. They went shorthanded five times and allowed two goals while down a man. These two put the Pens back in the game and, ultimately, set them up to steal the win in the extra period.

Presser Points

John Tavares: Not happy with one point.

Anders Nilsson on the winning goal:

Kyle Okposo on the team’s effort and the refereeing:

Presser: Jack Capuano discusses his take on the game:

What’s Ahead

Their four-game home stand over, the Isles now embark on a five-game road trip, starting on Thursday in St. Louis. The Blues (18-5-3) sit fourth in the Western Conference and are currently on a two-game losing streak.