Daily Clips – 5/12/13

Orpik OT goal lifts Penguins into Eastern Conference semifinals

By Rob Rossi Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 8:39 p.m. Updated 9 minutes ago

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Penguins were looking at one and done.

They were maybe looking at being done in more ways than one, actually.

Defenseman Brooks Orpik scored in overtime — a seeing-eye shot through congestions — for a 4-3 win Saturday night over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.

Orpik had gone 111 games, including playoffs, without a goal.

“Any shot is a good shot in overtime,” Orpik said after his winner, which was set up by a pass from right winger Tyler Kennedy.

“I saw him, and his stick was so high, he was waiting for the shot,” Kennedy said. “I wasn't sure if he could get it through because there was a lot of traffic.”

Captain Sidney Crosby said it was fitting that Orpik, the longest-tenured Penguin, though never known for his shot, sent the Penguins into Round 2 against Ottawa.

A loss to the Islanders would have set up a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night at Consol Energy Center.

For most of Game 6 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal, the Penguins looked broken.

They lost puck races, battles along the boards and sight of Islanders forwards in the prime scoring real estate that coaches had implored Penguins to protect.

Coach Dan Bylsma conceded that his club's recent history — three straight playoff losses to lower-seeded opponents — was a factor in Game 6 and the series.

“We fought it a little bit,” Bylsma said. “One of our keys was, ‘Be excited to win, not talking about the past.'

“At times we didn't play like that, particularly the first half of the game.”

The Islanders ended with a 38-21 advantage in shots and won 60 percent of faceoffs. They blocked more shots, 23-18, and outhit the Penguins, 31-23.

Somehow — credit a penalty kill that was 3 for 3 in Game 6, 18 for 20 in the series — the Penguins stayed close.

Defenseman Paul Martin late in the third period matched an earlier goal by Islanders right winger Michael Grabner to pull the Penguins even and force overtime.

With the Islanders closing off scoring lanes in front, Penguins defensemen were activated to help offensively.

“That was big for (the) team,” center Evgeni Malkin said. “You need everybody to win in (the) playoffs. We know that.”

Instead of a potentially psyche-crippling loss, this “special team” — that is the term players have used at times over the past couple of months — avoided a short turnaround into an elimination game.

“Huge,” winger Pascal Dupuis said.

Especially, Crosby said, because the eighth-seeded Islanders were an equal of the favored Penguins in this series.

“That's a really good team,” Crosby said of the Islanders, who hadn't played in the postseason since 2007 but are led by a young group of skilled forwards, including MVP finalist John Tavares. “They're going to be in the playoffs for a while.”

A Game 7 could have shaped the future of the franchise, and a loss would have left the Penguins with one playoff series win since franchise players Crosby and Malkin led them to the Cup in 2009.

A lot was going to be on the line.

Only Crosby, linked to the franchise with a 12-year extension that kicks in next season, seemed guaranteed to be part of general manager Ray Shero's plan going forward had the Penguins lost this series.

That was the pressure a Game 7 would have provided.

“But it's not necessary,” defenseman Kris Letang said.

Players and coaches have said over the past two weeks that this opening round was about winning four games, not the Cup.

Bylsma reiterated that again Saturday night — after, of course, that elusive fourth win that was delivered by the player who has been around longest.

Kovacevic: Penguins should thank Islanders

By Dejan Kovacevic Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 11:18 p.m. Updated 14 minutes ago

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Somehow, some way, it had been three years and 17 days since Pittsburgh's allegedly annual contender of a hockey club had been on the happy end of a handshake line.

So accept this one and enjoy it for all it's worth.

Go ahead, it won't bite.

If it hasn't become painfully clear in recent years and, yeah, in these harried recent days and the better part of your nailbiting Saturday evening, this sort of thing shouldn't be taken for granted.

I mean, come on, Penguins 4, Islanders 3 in OT!

Brooks Orpik, of all people, with a laser beam from the point that pinged the pipe and lit the lamp!

Series winner!

(Crickets.)

Just not feeling it, huh?

Understandable, I guess.

After all, Dan Bylsma had stressed in the hours leading to faceoff that he wanted all his athletes to treat this like a Game 7 – “We're not looking at this like we've got six periods,” the coach declared. “We've got only three” – and they followed up by treating the opening two periods like a morning skate.

An optional morning skate.

With a handful of participants.

All doing defense-free shootout drills.

There's no sugarcoating it: It was a sickening display that made you wonder what, if anything, these guys were thinking. Or if they even cared all that much.

But they did care. They did win. They did make it through.

And they did, for what it's worth, seem wholly delighted by that.

“The whole team showed a lot of character,” Orpik was saying afterward. “There was no panic on the bench at any points. We were saying all the right things. … And no shot's a bad shot in overtime.”

No one could argue that latter point, of course, especially when shooting on a perpetually shaky Evgeni Nabokov.

I'll guess, though, that this still has you sighing more than celebrating. So let me try this another way that puts those awful two periods — and all the other awful periods in this mostly awful series for the victors — in a potentially constructive perspective:

Thank you, Islanders.

That's not from me, but it very much should be the sentiment from the Penguins.

If these past few days wind up parlaying into something far bigger, if this team finds a path for chemistry and consistency in the second round or beyond, they ought to be grateful that these skilled, speedy and sandpaper-tough Islanders sling-shotted them along.

Make no mistake: For all the angst that gripped your city for much of this series, this was no ordinary No. 8 seed. John Tavares and company had gone 11-2-4 to close the regular season, desperately needing every point to qualify. As the defending champion Kings will attest, those tend to be dangerous opponents.

Add to that the familiarity of a divisional rival, speed on the wings that no Eastern Conference team can match and a mobile defense that utterly nullified the Penguins' chip-and-chase forecheck, and you've got the makings of exactly what unfolded.

Or unraveled, I should say.

Orpik offered a typically blunt perspective: “I know the media and a lot of fans thought this would be a really easy series, but they battled us really hard. It's a team that matches up well against us. They have a lot of speed up front.”

Yes, they do. There's a reason that, no more than seconds after Orpik's goal, the capacity crowd at Nassau Coliseum stood and roared approval for their team, prompting the players to take a lap with sticks raised.

It's not something you see often from the losing side, but it was well deserved.

Sidney Crosby called the Islanders “a really good team,” and it's a point their coach, Jack Capuano, wouldn't argue.

“We took huge strides as an organization,” he said. “We put it on the line every game we played”

Now, imagine the opposite. Imagine if this had been a breeze, if the Penguins had strolled into the second round without changing goaltenders from Marc-Andre Fleury to Tomas Vokoun, without altering the top two lines to far more logical trios, without other vital strategic and personnel moves.

That took some serious humbling, don't kid yourself, and this isn't a front office or coaching staff easily humbled.

And boy, did the Penguins need it. They've got issues, potentially grave issues when it comes to – repeat after me – managing the puck. But now at least they'll have video to review, a chance to discuss and debate and ultimately – if they do it smartly – improve.

Can they solve it all against a superior opponent in the Senators with an infinitely superior goaltender in Craig Anderson?

We'll find out.

For now, all that's known is that they shook hands and moved on.

And this, too, again from Orpik: “I think we learned that stuff doesn't always go your way. You've just got to stick with it.”

No crime in that, right?

Come on, breathe already.

Unlikely heroes provide spark in Penguins’ victory

By Chris Mascaro Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 10:27 p.m. Updated 17 minutes ago

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — There's not much higher praise as a member of the Penguins than to get a congratulatory slap on the back from Mario Lemieux.

But when you finish off a series with an overtime goal in Game 6, as defenseman Brooks Orpik did Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum, that's exactly the star treatment you get.

Orpik's slap shot, on assists from Tyler Kennedy and Evgeni Malkin, 7:49 into overtime finally ended the plucky team from Long Island's season and sent the Penguins to a second-round meeting with Ottawa.

“I think we caught them a little bit tired,” Orpik said of the Islanders, indefatigable in the series up to that point.

“There was an extended shift there, we got a line change and they didn't.”

Orpik, playing in his 78th career playoff game, is a nine-year veteran who missed the first three games of this series with a lower-body injury.

He'd never scored a postseason goal and has only 11 goals in 631 regular-season games — none this season.

“It's been a long time between goals,” said Orpik, whose last goal came Nov. 21, 2011.

“I obviously do other things to help the team win. I'd much rather get one there than in the regular season when it doesn't really matter.”

With the 16,170 in Nassau Coliseum ready to head out into the streets of Long Island knowing their team would be playing a Game 7 against the best team in the Eastern Conference in less than 24 hours, Paul Martin halted the party.

Martin, a 32-year-old defenseman who, like Orpik, isn't known for his goal-scoring, ripped a slapper that ricocheted off the crossbar and into the Islanders' net to tie it, 3-3, at 14:44 of the third period.

The goal, Martin's first of the postseason, atoned for what had been an otherwise shoddy effort from him, Orpik and the entire Penguins' defense, save three second-period penalty kills.

On the Islanders' third goal, which many in the crowd thought would be the game-winner, Keith Aucoin had plenty of time to fire a pass to a wide-open Michael Grabner, who took a shot on what seemed to be an invisible goalie — because Tomas Vokoun was nowhere to be found.

The goal at the 2:20 mark of the third negated what the Penguins' penalty-kill, led by Martin, Orpik and Kris Letang, had done.

The Penguins took three silly penalties in a span of less than eight minutes — Brenden Morrow's boarding infraction, Matt Cooke's interference call and a bench minor for too many men on the ice only 24 seconds after Cooke's penalty expired.

But with the Coliseum rocking, and the fans in all their full rally stick-waving glory, the Islanders did what they've done most of this series — they failed on the power play.

The Penguins easily squashed all three power plays to get their kill percentage to 90 percent for the series.

The Islanders, who fought valiantly in all six games, had six shots in six power-play minutes, and none was much of a threat.

“We respected them all series,” Orpik said.

“They definitely gave us everything we could handle.”

Starkey: Expect sparks when Pens-Sens meet

By Joe Starkey Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 10:15 p.m. Updated 9 hours ago

This should be interesting.

For teams that really aren't rivals, the Penguins and Ottawa Senators have developed quite the rivalry — replete with verbal jousting, “WANTED” posters, Gary Roberts-level rage and even an alleged forensic investigation.

This will mark the teams' fourth playoff meeting in seven years.

The storylines are especially juicy.

Start with Matt Cooke, obviously, the man whose mug appears on “WANTED” posters in the Ottawa cheering sections. It's part of the creatively titled “Matt Cooke Hate Fest” that erupted after Cooke injured star defenseman Erik Karlsson in February.

The Senators made it clear they didn't think the play was an accident.

“It's Matt Cooke. What else should I say?” said Ottawa's excitable general manager, Bryan Murray. “Watch the replay.”

Everyone who mattered watched the replay — and concluded that Cooke's skate blade unintentionally sliced into Karlsson's Achilles. Eugene Melnyk, the Senators' equally excitable, Barbados-based owner, vehemently disagreed.

Exhibiting a Ray Finkle-like obsession with his subject, Melnyk commissioned “experts” in Toronto to launch a “forensic” investigation into whether Cooke's act was premeditated.

No word on the results.

Murray, by the way, has a history with Sidney Crosby. It dates to Crosby's rookie year, when Murray was coaching the Senators and the two had a verbal in-game spat. Murray accused Crosby of using foul language (oh, the horror).

“Why would I yell at Bryan Murray?” Crosby said at the time. “That's what I want to know.”

Last season, in Crosby's third game back from a 10-month absence, he was called for an elbow to Nick Foligno's head. The Penguins accused Foligno of going after Marc-Andre Fleury. Murray accused the Penguins of being hypocrites, in light of their defending Crosby's move after being vocal proponents of preventing head injuries.

The most significant storyline here is the Senators gaining serious momentum since losing to the Penguins' JV team April 22. But first a few others:

• Ottawa defenseman Sergei Gonchar was a vital member of the Penguins' 2009 Cup team and a father figure to Evgeni Malkin.

• Penguins GM Ray Shero cut his teeth as Senators' assistant GM from 1993-98. He worked under his current assistant director of amateur scouting, Randy Sexton, who not only was GM but also one of the Senators' founders (somebody should ask Sexton if he ever thought of launching a forensic investigation into the repeated big-game disappearances of Alexandre Daigle).

• Many Penguins veterans got their playoff baptism in Ottawa. It did not go well. The older, wiser Senators ambushed them in Game 1 in '07.

• Ottawa optometrist Dr. Janet Leduc, quite incredibly, got Fleury to switch pad colors from yellow to white by writing him in 2008. Given the way things went in the Islanders series, maybe he should switch back to yellow.

• Notable events from the teams' previous 15 playoff games: Pascal Dupuis winning the '10 series with a Game 6 overtime goal; Crosby scoring his first playoff winner in Game 2 in '07 (on a mid-air tip); Senators winning a three-overtime marathon here in '10 (Matt Carkner, of all people, scored); and Gary Roberts losing his mind at the end of Game 1 in '08.

Roberts nearly fought four Senators players. By then, the Penguins were quite familiar with Roberts' death stare. As Tyler Kennedy put it, “He's a very intense man.”

This should be a very intense series, mostly because the #peskysens (popular Twitter hashtag for Senators) are rolling. They outscored the Canadiens, 20-9, and appear ready to welcome back injured star Jason Spezza.

Ottawa has a well-rounded defense, a bright new face up front in hometown hero Jean-Gabriel Pageau and maybe the best goaltending they've ever had in the form of Craig Anderson, a journeyman who, a la Tim Thomas, has discovered life in his 30s.

Oh, and they have quite the colorful coach in Paul MacLean, who was unfortunately dubbed a “bug-eyed, fat walrus” by Montreal's Brandon Prust in Round 1 and who took to referring to Canadiens players by their numbers. Example: P.K. Subban was “Player 76.”

MacLean also delivered the line of the playoffs after calling timeout with 18 seconds left in a 6-1, Game 3 rout. Michel Therrien charged MacLean with trying to humiliate the Canadiens.

Replied MacLean: “They did a pretty good job of that themselves.”

Isles have chances, come up short in Game 6

By Denis Gorman Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 10:33 p.m. Updated 9 hours ago

UNIONDALE, N.Y.— The task at hand for the Islanders was brutal in its simplicity:

Win a game.

But even though the Islanders had the better of play for much of the game, they wake up Sunday knowing that their season has ended.

“It's going to take awhile—weeks—to digest this,” Travis Hamonic said after the Islanders' 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders are now 3-1 all-time in Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Pens, including Game 7 wins in the 1975 quarterfinals and the 1993 Patrick Division final.

This will be a loss that resonates because the Islanders did everything they had to do in order to win the win-or-go-home game.

New York implemented a multi-faceted attack which had the Penguins on their heels from the opening puck drop.

The Islanders finished with a 38-21 advantage in shots on goal.

“They're going to be in the playoffs for a long time,” Sidney Crosby said of the Islanders.

As they had in Games 2 through 4, the Islanders used their speed and physicality to wear on the Penguins. Even though the stat sheet showed the Islanders had a marginal edge in hits (19-17), they were clearly the aggressors, led by Matt Martin's game-high 11 hits.

The hitting paid off on the Islanders' second goal of the game. Fourth liners Keith Aucoin and Michael Grabner forced a turnover behind Pens goalie Tomas Vokoun, and Colin McDonald slammed a backhander into the net that gave New York a 2-1 lead.

Aucoin and Grabner combined on the go-ahead goal 2:21 into third, using a combination of a strategic adjustment made by coach Jack Capuano and their speed.

Although the Islanders spent the majority of the game attacking, they clogged the neutral zone in an attempt to eliminate the Pens' stretch pass, which was so effective in the 4-0 win in Game 5. The trap mostly took away passing lanes and forced the Penguins to skate the puck the length of the ice.

“We played a good hockey game,” Martin said.

When the Pens tried to pass against the trap, it resulted in turnovers, none more critical than Norris Trophy finalist Kris Letang's clearing attempt 2:20 into the third that Aucoin intercepted at the blue line. The New York center took several strides towards the slot, faked a slap shot and feathered a pass to Grabner, standing in the right faceoff circle, for a one-timer that Vokoun never saw.

But even though the Islanders never trailed, they were unable to extend their leads. New York had leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, but the Penguins were able to score tying goals.

“We just couldn't get that second goal lead,” Hamonic said. “Overtime and they get a lucky shot. It really (ticks) you off. It really does.

“I think that we played really well. We could've won the series. Should've, in my opinion. It leaves a bitter, sour taste for the rest of the summer.”

Penguins notebook: Despres cracks lineup again

By Rob Rossi Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 7:57 p.m. Updated 9 hours ago

Despres cracks lineup again

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Simon Despres really did impress coaches in Game 5.

His performance then — a hit, a takeaway and two blocks in about 14 mintues — earned him a spot in the Penguins lineup for Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night.

Despres was scratched for Game 4 on Tuesday night after a rough outing in Game 3 last Sunday. He played only five minutes in Game 3 and was on the ice for two goals allowed.

However, Despres was much better in Game 5 at Consol Energy Center on Thursday night. He was paired with top defenseman Kris Letang in that game. The defense pairings were jumbled for much of the opening period in Game 6, even though the Penguins' lineup remained the same as for Game 5.

Early TO

Coach Dan Bylsma said he wanted a better start from the Penguins in Game 6 than in Games 3 and 4 at Nassau Coliseum. He opened with the Penguins' new top line — Pascal Dupuis on the left wing with center Sidney Crosby and right winger Jarome Iginla.

However, that line was forced to play most of its first shift in the defensive zone. An inadvertent icing with just one minute and 19 seconds into the game forced Bylsma to use his lone regulation timeout.

Defenders on the ice for an icing must stay on for the next faceoff, and Bylsma called the timeout to give the Crosby line a breather. The Islanders did not score on the next shift, but they eventually opened the scoring for the third consecutive game at Nassau Coliseum.

Quick response

Iginla answered Islanders center John Tavares' opening goal in Game 6, pulling the Penguins even 2:03 after Tavares' goal. Before that sequence, the Penguins had answered an Islanders' goal within three minutes on four previous occasions in Game 1-5.

Malkin update

Center Evgeni Malkin had played about 15 minutes Thursday in Game 5, but Bylsma said Saturday that there was no injury-related reason for his reduction in ice time.

Islanders’ notebook: Nielsen starts, top prospect Nelson dresses

By Denis Gorman Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 7:36 p.m. Updated 9 hours ago

Nielsen starts, Nelson dresses

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The cat and mouse games were in full effect Saturday even before the puck was dropped.

When asked during his morning press conference, Islanders' coach Jack Capuano would not commit to center Frans Nielsen or prospect Brock Nelson playing in Saturday night's Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

Both dressed for the game. Nielsen was in the starting lineup, centering a line with Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson. Nielsen suffered a lower body injury in the 4-0 loss in Game 5. He did not participate in the Islanders' optional skate at Friday, but was on the ice Saturday morning.

“(I) really haven't talked to him since the skate but he went through the practice OK,” Capuano said. “We still have some options if he can't go.”

While Nielsen had played in every game of the series, Saturday was Nelson's NHL debut. The 30th overall pick in the 2010 draft, Nelson recorded 25 goals and 27 assists this year with the Isles' AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Conn.

“He's put on about 15 pounds; he's much stronger,” Capuano said. “He was one of their top players.

“If Brock does get in there, I said it before: We wouldn't put a guy in we felt wasn't necessarily ready. We feel he's ready to play.”

Now or never

The Islanders' goal heading into the do-or-die game was twofold. The first objective was to force Game 7. The second was to play better than they did Thursday night.

“We stopped moving our feet. We stopped getting pucks deep. We started turning pucks over at the blueline. We stopped doing what we needed to do to be successful for about 10 minutes, and it was 3-0,” left wing Matt Martin said. “We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

A view from New York: Islanders not dead after all

By Mark Herrmann

This is when it would be natural to say what a good ride it was for this year's Islanders and how bright their future surely is. Except that would be disrespectful and patronizing to a team that never was interested in moral victories.

The days ahead will be time for postmortems and silver linings, especially after the heartache of losing a series, in overtime, 4-3, after leading late in the third period. Now is the time to recognize the real triumph of the season that ended Saturday night: This franchise is much more than an antiquated idea.

What the stirring six-game series against the Penguins proved is that there is life on planet Islanders. It always has been there, in fact. The fans are dedicated and passionate, they just aren't saps. They simply are not going to buy into a dead-end situation, which is why they have not been out in strong numbers or hearty voice in recent years.

As some of us have said all along, all it took was for the Islanders to be just a little bit good for the fervor to bubble up and boil over. At the intersection of hope and nostalgia, Islanders fans have grown to love the current team in a way not seen around here for many years.

If you are an Islanders fan, you said it. If you know an Islanders fan, you heard it: There was something special this year, especially the past month. "You see the crowd, the way they react. They come up to you and say how proud they are. That means a lot," Kyle Okposo said.

It means that this franchise is not dead, as people in the hockey community have suggested. It was just dormant.

Fans are pumped about the speed, the youth and the style of play of this team. They see the credibility in John Tavares, who has emerged as a superstar and a league most valuable player finalist. He has bought into the vision here, re-enlisting for six years when there was no hurry to sign. Naturally, he scored the first goal Saturday night.

So here's to tomorrow, and to yesterday. Alongside all the forward thinking is a wistful, end-of-an-era feeling. Islanders fans know that Nassau Coliseum's days are numbered. For better or worse, things will not be the same in Brooklyn. So this playoff run has been not only a tribute to what the Islanders might become, but a celebration of what they have been.

"You go back and look at Al Arbour and the teams that they had. For me, when they won those championships in the '80s, they were a gritty blue collar team," coach Jack Capuano said. "This team, if you look at us overall, we're similar that way. We might not have the skill level of other teams, but we have the battle level, we have the passion. That's what fans want to see. That's the brand of hockey that we give them, that we're going to keep pushing and pushing until the final buzzer sounds."

Arbour's Islanders, though, did have five Hall of Famers. Capuano's Islanders need to keep adding pieces if they want to ever hang a banner at Barclays Center. The dynasty Islanders won 19 consecutive playoff series. The modern Islanders have gone 20 years without winning one. So there is work to do.

These Islanders were just a little short. They didn't have the Penguins' depth, or the goaltending Plan B that helped Pittsburgh get back on its feet.

These Islanders were genuinely disappointed, which was a good sign because it showed they were not just happy to be here. It means they will be hungry to come back.

Anyway, they were good enough to make Nassau Coliseum the center of the hockey universe for the first time in years. It was a great show, and it proved this franchise always has been a good idea.

Malkin's patience makes a difference

By Shelly Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- So many times, the Penguins had faced this situation.

Approaching the New York Islanders blue line or being just inside of it, carrying the puck, looking to make something happen.

Evgeni Malkin was no different. The Penguins center had been thwarted earlier in Saturday's game more than once by New York's penchant for closing in, blocking off passing and shooting lanes, deflecting pucks out of harm's way.

This time was different. The Penguins were desperate, but Malkin showed a lot of patience to set up defenseman Paul Martin for the tying goal in the third period of a game they won, 4-3, in overtime to bounce the Islanders from the playoffs and advance to a second-round matchup against Ottawa.

"That's why he's one of the best in the league," Martin said of Malkin. "He's able to hold onto that puck and get guys coming after him.

"And, even better, he looks like he's got his head down, but he's able to find a way [to create something], find guys who are open."

The Penguins had been outplayed most of the game, but trailed just 3-2 as the third period was starting to cast shadows.

Malkin got the puck in the neutral zone and headed toward the right point. His teammates, though, were in a line change, and Malkin found himself looking at four Islanders.

Earlier in the game, in a couple of similar but less lopsided situations, Malkin barged ahead, had a shot deflected or tried to force a pass to a teammate.

This time, with the four Islanders giving him a little space, Malkin drove down the right side and behind the net. By the time he swung around to the other side, Martin was set up at the left point. Pass. Shot. Tie game.

Well, there was a little blip -- the puck clipped the stick of Islanders center Frans Nielsen and flew by goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

A big reason for that goal, which came with 5:16 left in regulation, was Malkin being patient.

"He was," Martin said. "I think that was one of the keys. We wanted to spend a little time in our [offensive] zone, and he's a staple of that when he gets control of the puck, uses his body to create good positioning and lug it around, and other guys get open for him.

"If he's going like that, that's big for us."

Malkin, who also got the secondary assist on Brooks Orpik's overtime goal, did not speak with reporters after the game.

He entered the game leading the Penguins and second in the NHL in playoff scoring with nine points, but they seemed to be a quiet nine points.

He ended the series with 11 points in the six games.

In Game 6, he had just one shot, had one blocked and missed the net on four attempts, largely due to the Islanders' keen positioning. The Penguins reacted by holding onto the puck or taking shots that were easily deflected away.

The Penguins were outshot and outplayed for much of the game, but if Malkin was frustrated, he got past that feeling on the third-period play.

It was the third time the Penguins came back from a one-goal deficit in the game.

A lot of his teammates -- including center Sidney Crosby and James Neal -- didn't see Malkin's play or Martin's goal because they were involved in the line change.

"I was coming onto the ice," Crosby said. "I didn't even see [Martin] open. I was watching to see if [Malkin] was going to throw it at the net or what. He did a great job of showing patience there to hold onto it.

"That's our game -- when we're down there [in that end], we're able to create things. [Malkin], when he has the puck, he's always dangerous."

Malkin was playing his second game after being reunited with Chris Kunitz and Neal. Neal left Game 1 and missed Games 2 and 3 because of what was believed to be an ankle injury.

Penguins notebook: Kunitz in win-win situation as LW for either star center

By Shelly Anderson and Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- No trinkets have been left in Chris Kunitz's locker. No dinners have been paid for as a means of buying his loyalty.

If Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are in a tug-of-war over the left winger, they are not openly plying him with gifts to get him to push to play with one over the other.

"No, absolutely not," Kunitz said Saturday, hours before he and the Penguins played the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series.

"I'm getting gifts [just] playing with either one of those guys."

Kunitz has spent a lot of his Penguins career playing alongside Crosby, including most of this season as Crosby ran up 56 points en route to being a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the National Hockey League's most valuable player.

Last season, when Crosby missed a lot of games because of injury, Kunitz played on a line with Malkin, who won the NHL scoring title and Hart Trophy, and right winger James Neal.

"It's a good problem to have when you get to play with either one of those guys," Kunitz said of coach Dan Bylsma's decisions on line combinations.

"Throughout my years in Pittsburgh, I've had a chance to play with both. They're both such elite talents that they make players around them way better. If you work hard, they're going to reward you with good plays."

Crosby has not openly lobbied for any particular wingers but has repeatedly pointed out how comfortable he is with Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. Malkin has developed strong chemistry with Neal and has said he likes having Kunitz on his left side.

For Game 5 of the series, Bylsma moved Kunitz onto Malkin's line with Neal, and switched Dupuis to the left side of Crosby's line so that Jarome Iginla could move to his natural position, right wing, with Crosby. Iginla had been playing left wing with Malkin.

Bylsma used the new look again in Game 6.

Keeping tabs on other teams

The Penguins, understandably, have been preoccupied with their first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders lately.

Nonetheless, many, if not most, have tried to keep up with the goings-on in the other best-of-sevens.

"We pay attention," winger Brenden Morrow said. "On our off-days, it's killing time [by] watching games and playing cards, so we see what's going on."

And they have rooting interests, although not because they're pulling for a particular team to advance or be eliminated.

"You hope for every series to go seven, except for the ones we're in," Morrow said. "You like to see physical hockey, teams wearing each other down."

Some players, like a lot of other people, did not anticipate that San Jose would sweep Vancouver, but most recognize how unpredictable things can get during the postseason.

"For the most part, in the playoffs, anything can happen, so nothing surprises you too much," defenseman Paul Martin said.

Defenseman Douglas Murray, acquired from the San Jose Sharks before the trade deadline, acknowledged he is keeping an eye on his former team, but said he has focused mostly on the series in the Penguins' Eastern Conference.

"I'm always watching the Sharks," he said. "All my buddies are on that team, so I want them to win. They're off to a great start."

But, with an eye toward the possibility of advancing in the East, "I probably try to pay more attention to the East games," Murray said. "I'm new to the East, so I'm trying to see the other teams as much as possible."

Tavares thrilled by new honor

Islanders center John Tavares is the biggest reason New York got into the playoffs for the first time since 2007, a feat that helped to make him a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

Crosby and Washington winger Alex Ovechkin, the other finalists, are previous Hart winners, while Tavares is a first-time finalist.

"It's a pretty special and tremendous honor," he said. "Some of the best players who have ever played have been nominated or have won the award. To be up for it is really special.

"It's still hard to believe. Just trying to focus on the [playoffs] now, but it's obviously great to be recognized, especially with those two other guys. Such great players and stars in our league."

Islanders stay loose

The Islanders knew they were facing elimination in Game 6, but didn't seem particularly tight at their game-day skate.

One example: The nameplate above center Casey Cizikas' locker-room stall was covered by a piece of masking tape on which the name "Randy" had been written.

Asked about it, Cizikas would say only, "Inside joke with the guys," although an Islanders staffer suggested it likely was "moustache-related."

Tip-ins

Penguins prospect Scott Harrington, a second-round draft pick in 2011, was named a first-team Ontario Hockey League All-Star for the second year in a row. Harrington, a defenseman, had 19 points in 50 games and a plus-minus rating of plus-26 for the London Knights. ... The Islanders played without defenseman Andrew MacDonald for the second game in a row. He got hurt in Game 4 and had hand surgery.

Orpik sends Penguins to series win in overtime

Penguins to face Ottawa after rallying to oust Islanders in Game 6 thriller

By Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIONDALE. N.Y. -- Brooks Orpik was not the most unlikely overtime hero Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum.

Backup goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Kevin Poulin were even less likely to score the game-deciding goal. Probably. Well, maybe.

Didn't matter, though, because it was Orpik -- not Sidney Crosby or John Tavares, Evgeni Malkin or Kyle Okposo -- who ended Game 6, to say nothing of the Penguins' first-round series against the New York Islanders, by beating goalie Evgeni Nabokov from the left point at 7:49 of the extra period.

It didn't take much research to determine that it was the biggest playoff goal of Orpik's career, since he hadn't gotten any in the previous 77 postseason games.

That didn't matter much, either.

"Big goal by [Orpik]," winger Pascal Dupuis said. "A guy who was keeping his goal for the playoffs, I guess. For a big moment."

And there wasn't a bigger one in the series.

"I'm definitely not a goal-scorer," he said. "That's not what I'm looked [to] for."

True enough, but his goal was what the Penguins needed to lock up their first series win since an opening-round decision against Ottawa in 2010 and to launch them into a Round 2 matchup with the Senators.

The Penguins will have home-ice advantage in that series, the dates of which have not been announced.

The Penguins swept the regular-season series from the Senators and have won two of three previous meetings in the playoffs, most recently in 2010.

New York dominated play much of the night, as reflected by its 38-21 advantage in shots.

If not for some strong work by goalie Tomas Vokoun and the Penguins' penalty-killers, who snuffed all three Islanders chances with the extra man, there might have been a Game 7 tonight at Consol Energy Center.

"There were some huge saves [by Vokoun], especially later in the third there, when they were already up one, that gave us a chance to tie it," winger Jarome Iginla said.

The Islanders actually had three one-goal leads in the game. The Penguins overcame all three and didn't allow New York to get a fourth.

New York's showing, both in Game 6 and the series, made an impression on the Penguins, though.

"They played well," Vokoun said. "They gave us everything we could handle. I'm just glad it's over, and we move on."

This is the first time in four tries the Penguins have won a series against the Islanders and for a lot of the game, it looked as if this one would go the distance, just as the previous three had.

Tavares beat Vokoun from near the right hash at 5:36 of the opening period to give New York a 1-0 lead, but Iginla got that goal back for the Penguins at 7:59, when he pushed a Sidney Crosby rebound behind Nabokov. That goal gave Iginla a point in every game of the series, tying the personal-best playoff points streak he set in 2004.

The Islanders reclaimed the lead 37 seconds before intermission, as former Penguin Colin McDonald converted a cross-ice feed from Keith Aucoin, only to have the Penguins pull even again when Dupuis drove to the net and steered in a feed from Joe Vitale at 10:59 of the second.

Dupuis had a point in every game of the series, giving him a career-best six-game playoff scoring streak, while Vitale's assist was his first career playoff point.

New York turned a Kris Letang giveaway into its third goal at 2:21 of the third as Aucoin picked off his pass and set up Michael Grabner, alone near the bottom of the right circle.

Paul Martin tied the score again at 14:44, thanks to a sensational effort by Malkin. He carried the puck into the New York end 1-on-4 and went behind the goal line, then slid it to Martin, whose shot from the left point deflected off Islanders forward Frans Nielsen and eluded Nabokov.

That was the final goal of regulation. The final one until Orpik ended the series by making the most of a feed from Tyler Kennedy.

"He put it on a tee for me," Orpik said.

And Orpik put it into the history books, to the considerable relief of his teammates.

"We needed the win," Vokoun said. "We're glad we don't have to play them [tonight]."

Collier: Booking ticket to Ottawa was way too difficult

By Gene Collier / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- They were in no mood for negotiation, this contingent from Pittsburgh. They went about their bludgeoning business in a methodical performance that left little doubt as to the identity of the superior team.

Sure, it took a couple or three hours, according to the final accounting, but it was effectively over in the New York minute it took the hosts to turn to toast.

The common word is domination.

Oh wait, that was the Pirates.

Yeah, 20 miles down the Grand Central Parkway, the Pirates were throttling the Mets, but inside the Nassau Coliseum, the Penguins were straining just to put the final phrasing on an invitation for the Islanders to a Mother's Day appointment back in Pittsburgh.

At least that's what they were doing when Brooks Orpik had apparently had enough. Everyone knows it's hard to get to Ottawa, but this was getting ridiculous. Orpik took a pass from Tyler Kennedy near the left point and drove the puck past Evgeni Nabokov 7:49 into overtime to sneak the Penguins into the second round of the playoffs.

There will be Mother's Day, but there will be no Game 7.

"Geno gave me a great pass," Kennedy said about that fateful forecheck. "I saw Brooksie with his stick up and was able to get it there. He made a great shot; pounded it hard. Everyone on this team can score. There are guys who maybe aren't looked on to score, but whenever you've got the puck, you never know what can happen."

Do tell.

Wasn't that Paul Martin getting the goal that sent this thing to overtime with less than six minutes remaining in a repeat episode in which the Islanders imposed everything but their will?

The luminous resemblance of Game 6 to the other games played in this building in these Eastern Conference quarterfinals was obvious from the start, as New York's swift transitional play tilted the ice in the Penguins' disfavor.

And the similarities went three periods deep as well, with another inexcusable giveaway in the defensive end by the Penguins leading to a tiebreaking Islanders goal, this time with Kris Letang playing the role of Evgeni Malkin, turning the puck over to Keith Aucoin, who quickly fed it to Michael Grabner for the shot that made it 3-2.

The only difference was in the casting, and it's no coincidence whatsoever that the Penguins somehow went on a two-game winning streak at the reappearance of Kennedy.

"It's always nice to see the team win, but yeah, I'm thankful that I'm in the lineup," said Kennedy, whose breakaway goal in Game 5 pushed the Penguins to a 4-0 victory. "It's playoff hockey, and we've got a lot of guys who've played a lot of games in the playoffs. It's fun when it's going back and forth, games that you want to be part of, for sure."

That the Penguins somehow extended still another unpolished performance to overtime was a small miracle, just as the fact that they escaped the first period with a modest one-goal deficit had to be counted as something of an accomplishment, particularly when juxtaposed against the distinct impression that they could have been down, 5-1, with but a few minor wrinkles near the goal cage.

Tomas Vokoun, who relieved Marc-Andre Frantic after his Game 4 meltdown at this very crime scene and who'd put the Penguins within reach of the next round with a Game 5 shutout, got himself solved in the game's sixth minute by the consistently dangerous John Tavares, one of two Hart Trophy candidates with which this series is blessed.

The other would be Sidney Crosby, who got behind the New York defense to put a sharp back-hander into the maw of Nabokov, and the rebound was stuffed home by Jarome Iginla to erase the 1-0 lead Tavares had provided.

Iginla, having recently joined Pascal Dupuis on the Crosby line, has a point in all six games, but his effort had no evident impact on the flow of things. The Islanders kept the pressure high in the attack zone, and before long Vokoun found himself sprawled in the crease in desperation again.

With 13:02 elapsed, the Islanders had outshot the Penguins, 7-2, and it was 12-7 in that category by the first intermission. The Islanders' pressure didn't change, but the score did.

Colin McDonald made it 2-1 New York after Martin misplayed the puck along the end boards under duress from Michael Grabner. The turnover wound up on the stick of Aucoin, who swept it across the goal mouth to the awaiting McDonald for an easy tap-in.

Despite a 16-6 shot advantage in the middle period, the Islanders could not prevent the Penguins from tying the score, even with all the help they were getting from the Penguins themselves. Matt Cooke committed one stupid penalty in the second, and a stupider bench penalty for too many Penguins on the ice put James Neal in the box for another two minutes, but in neither case did the Islanders capitalize.

"We'll get some rest and put it behind us," Kennedy said. "They're a great team. They've improved tremendously and they're going to be really good in the coming years."

To be really good in the coming weeks, the Penguins will have to be a lot better than they ever were on Long Island in this series.

Pens-Islanders Series Snapshots

Sunday, 05.12.2013 / 12:08 AM / 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs Coverage

By Michelle Crechiolo

The No. 1-seeded Penguins defeated the No. 8-seeded Islanders in six games in their opening-round series with a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.

The Penguins advance to play seventh-seeded Ottawa in the second round. It’s the first time since 2010 that Pittsburgh has moved past the first round.

Here are some notes and quotes from both Game 6 and the series as a whole.

VOKOUN STARS AGAIN Brooks Orpik was the overtime hero in Saturday’s Game 6 win over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum, scoring in the extra period to clinch the series and send the Penguins to the next round. But the true MVP was Tomas Vokoun.

Vokoun, who started his second straight playoff game, made 35 saves – several of those clutch stops with just minutes left in the third and the Penguins trailing by one goal to keep his team in the game.

The Penguins had activated their defense to join the rush and take chances in the offensive zone in an effort to try and press for the tying goal. But the risk with that is allowing odd-man rushes the other way.

And the Islanders did get a pair of 2-on-1s against Vokoun (in addition to a fantastic chance by Josh Bailey on one of the ensuing faceoffs), but he came up with big saves – keeping Pittsburgh within a goal and allowing Paul Martin to tie it just a couple minutes later.

But it wasn’t just late in the game that Vokoun had to be strong. The frantic Islanders, trying to avoid elimination, outplayed the Penguins for the vast majority of the contest, keeping them trapped in their own end and generating nerve-racking chance after nerve-racking chance. But Vokoun was a rock for the Penguins and played calm and steady in the net.

After Orpik won the game in overtime, an exhausted Vokoun – who pitched a shutout in Game 5, his first playoff game since 2004, to put the Penguins in position to clinch – reveled at the other end.

“Best feeling ever,” he said. “I was pretty tired, so just joyful for the feeling. Obviously a hard-fought game. They played well. They gave us everything we could handle. I’m just glad it’s over and we move on.”

Vokoun’s .957 save percentage in two games ranked first in the NHL, while his 1.41 goals-against average ranked second.

MALKIN LEADS TEAM Evgeni Malkin made a pair of gorgeous plays to set up both the game-winning and tying goals on Saturday. He finished the series with points in all six games, giving him team-leading totals of nine assists and 11 points. His nine assists rank first in NHL playoff scoring while his 11 points are tied with Boston’s David Krejci for first.

Malkin’s 11 points in six games is the highest single-series total of his career. His previous high was 10 points (2G-8A) in seven games against the Washington Capitals in the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Tonight Malkin equaled his career-long six-game assist streak he had between May 9-23, 2009 (9 assists total).

And with a pair of assists tonight, Malkin has multiple points in eight of his last 11 playoff games (5G-14A-19PTS).

GETTIN’ IGGY WITH IT Send it in, Jarome!

Jarome Iginla, who played right wing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis for a second straight game on Saturday, scored in the first period to also give him at least one point in each of Pittsburgh’s six playoff games – equaling the longest point streak of his playoff career. Iginla also had a six-game playoff scoring streak established between April 27-May 11, 2004 (2G-4A-6PTS).

He recorded two goals and seven assists for nine points in six games, which tied Crosby for second on the team behind Malkin.

Iginla’s nine points equaled his highest single-series point total, tying his output (4G-5A) against the San Jose Sharks in the 2008 Western Conference quarterfinals.

Overall, Iginla has now collected at least one point in 13 of his last 15 games (6G-13A-19PTS) – totals that include both the regular season and playoffs.

SUPER DUPER Pascal Dupuis’ goal celebrations are so enjoyable to watch. The look of pure, unadulterated elation expressed on his face seems like it is coming from a rookie who just scored his first NHL goal, not an experienced veteran.

Fortunately for the Penguins and their fans, we were able to see that celebration from Dupuis many times in Pittsburgh’s opening-round series against the Islanders – five times in six games, in fact, with his goal in Game 6 on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.

And unfortunately for the Islanders and their fans, it’s something they saw all season long. He lit them up in the regular season too, with five goals in six meetings. He got points in 10 of the 11 games against the Islanders (regular season and the playoffs), scoring a total of 13 (10G-3A).

Overall, Dupuis finished with a team-leading five goals and also had seven points (5G-2A) in six playoff games. He scored at least one point in all six contests. His six-game point streak is the longest of his postseason career.

Dupuis’ goal in the second period of Saturday’s Game 6 against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum was a big one, as it tied the score 2-2 in a game that had been all Islanders. The Islanders had been controlling play, keeping Pittsburgh trapped in its own end, and the Penguins had been barely weathering the storm.

After a disorganized and inefficient power play from the Penguins, Dupuis stepped up minutes later with a crucial goal to breathe life back into his team. It all began when Joe Vitale skated into the zone and barreled down a lane to the net. He threaded a centering pass that Dupuis was able to re-direct into the net.

Then shortly after Dupuis scored that tying goal, the Islanders got a pair of crucial power plays and the two-way winger jumped over the boards to help kill them both. First he helped negate a penalty to Matt Cooke, then seconds after the Penguins staved off that Islanders power play, they got a bench minor for too many men. He played a crucial role in thwarting that one, too. ADJUSTED LINEUP The Penguins started the series very strong with a 5-0 win in Game 1. But the team faltered in Games 2-4, leading Pittsburgh's coaching staff to make adjustments for Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 – starting by replacing starter Marc-Andre Fleury with Vokoun. Joe Vitale and Tyler Kennedy played after they had been healthy scratches for the first four games (replacing Jussi Jokinen and Tanner Glass), while Simon Despres slotted in on defense. Iginla moved back to his

natural right wing position with Crosby and Dupuis while Kunitz reunited with Malkin and James Neal. The changes worked exactly how they were supposed to, as they sparked Pittsburgh to a 4-0 win. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The lineup remained the same for Game 6. Here's exactly how it looked... Dupuis-Crosby-Iginla Kunitz-Malkin-Neal Morrow-Sutter-Cooke Adams-Vitale-Kennedy Orpik-Martin Despres-Letang Murray-Niskanen Vokoun

Unlikely Heroes Clinch Series for Pens

Saturday, 05.11.2013 / 10:44 PM / 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs Coverage

By Michelle Crechiolo

Two very unlikely heroes led the Penguins into the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. Defensemen Brooks Orpik and Paul Martin scored the game-winning and game-tying goals, respectively, to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Islanders in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and give the Penguins a 4-2 series win. “Before the game, it’s not uncommon to try and pick guys who might score in the game,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “I don’t think anyone had Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik. “I know in every overtime, I always pick a guy in my brain who I think is going to score the game-winner. After the game I said for sure it was 44 that I picked. But to get his first goal of the year and his first playoff goal, I don’t think we thought it was coming from 44. But we’ll take Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik stepping up for us and getting the win.”

Orpik’s series-clinching goal was his first career playoff goal in his 78th postseason appearance (and his first in 107 straight games, regular season and playoffs). “I’d much rather get one now than in the regular season,” he smiled after the game. It came 7:49 minutes into the overtime period and began when Evgeni Malkin had the puck behind the Islanders net. He passed it to Tyler Kennedy on the wall,who dropped it back to Orpik at the point. Orpik lined it up and sent a bullet past Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov, giving the Penguins the win in a game they got outplayed until about halfway through the third period. “There was a lot of traffic in front, so I just wanted to keep it short side,” Orpik explained. “I can’t say it’s exactly where I was shooting, but ‘TK’ gave me a great pass there. Just put it on a tee for me. I just tried to put it on net as hard as I could.” Malkin also assisted on Martin’s goal, which tied the score at 3-3 with just 5:17 minutes left in the third period. Malkin skated the puck into the Islanders zone with four blue jerseys surrounding him, circled the net and hit Martin with a pass at the blue line. He wound up and blasted it into the twine. And while Orpik and Martin scored clutch goals, that’s not where their importance lie. During even strength, they matched up against New York’s star players and brought needed steadiness and calmness to Pittsburgh’s blue line against a fast, energetic, desperate Islanders team trying to stave off elimination in their first playoff appearance since 2007. In addition, the Islanders had three key power plays at key moments in this game. They didn’t convert any of them, thanks in large part to the work of Orpik and Martin. The two defensemen logged the most shorthanded work on the team, with Orpik skating 3:28 minutes and Martin 3:16. It felt like Martin never left the ice in this game, especially after the Islanders took that 3-2 lead just 2:21 into the third period. He ended up topping 30 minutes, because he’s just that kind of player who just does everything well. Martin, who finished with five blocked shots, is a reliable defensive presence you want on the ice in that kind of situation, but he also has the mobility, vision and smarts to contribute on offense like he did tonight. As for Orpik, he excels in a physical, punishing, stay-at-home role (he finished tied with Craig

Adams for the team lead with five hits). But man, was it awesome to see the guys mob their alternate captain and team leader after he scored that big goal and dish out more than just free candy. For a team to advance deep into the playoffs, they need to have different players step up at different times. In Pittsburgh’s Game 5 win on Thursday, it was Kennedy and Joe Vitale – who had sat out the first four games of the series – who entered the lineup and provided a spark. Tonight, it was Orpik and Martin. "That's the playoffs," captain Sidney Crosby said. "When you think about it, you have different guys stepping up that don't necessarily always kind of get that opportunity." “In playoffs, you never know who it’s going to be,” agreed Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun, who made 35 saves at the other end for the win. “It doesn’t matter who scores. We needed the win and we’re glad we don’t have to play them tomorrow. Give them a lot of credit. They played a great series and they played really hard. They’re an up-and-coming good team. They gave us everything we could handle.

Orpik's OT goal gives Penguins series victory

Saturday, 05.11.2013 / 11:59 PM

Brian Compton - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Pittsburgh Penguins are built to win the Stanley Cup. They took another step toward their goal Saturday night.

Brooks Orpik scored 7:49 into overtime to give the Penguins a series-clinching 4-3 win against the New York Islanders in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Orpik's slap shot from just inside the blue line was the defenseman's first goal in 106 games. Evgeni Malkin gathered the puck behind the Islanders net and passed to Tyler Kennedy near the goal line. Kennedy fed Orpik at the left point and his long shot beat goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

"It's definitely a good feeling," Orpik said after scoring his first goal of the season. "There was a lot of traffic in front, so I just wanted to keep it short-side. [Tyler] made a great pass to just put it on the tape for me. I just tried to put it on net as hard as I could."

Top-seeded Pittsburgh trailed by one goal three times before finally getting past eighth-seeded New York. The Penguins are certainly relieved to be headed to the second round for the first time since 2010.

"We expected to win the series here," said Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis, who had five goals in the six games. "We've lost the last three [first-round series] we were in, and this one feels great.

"They're all going to be tough. They're all going to be hard. It's the way you stick with it, it's the way you battle. This one, [Jarome Iginla] said it best I think after Game 4: It could be the best thing that happened to us. Feel a little adversity and feel what it feels like to battle. This one feels awesome."

Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun, who was inserted into this series to start Game 5 instead of struggling Marc-Andre Fleury, made 35 saves for his second straight victory.

"We needed the win and we're glad we don't have to play them tomorrow," Vokoun said. "Give them a lot of credit. They played a great series and they played really hard. They're an up-and-coming good team. They gave us everything we could handle."

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said, "To be thrown into the middle of a series and play the way [Vokoun] did, that's huge. Especially tonight, [when] they carried the play and had a lot of great chances. He was sturdy and solid for us."

The Penguins advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will face the Ottawa Senators.

"They're playing good hockey; they're pretty similar [to the Islanders]," Crosby said. "They have some fast forwards, a lot of skill, a lot of speed. We're going to have to do a better job of keeping the puck out of our end and out of our net."

New York was competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. Although the Islanders didn't get the result they were hoping for, there's a feeling the franchise is turning the corner. After years of being a draft-lottery team, the Islanders nearly took the top-seeded Penguins the distance.

"I think as an organization we gained some respect back," Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "I was really happy to see the fans support us the way they did, and I hope this is just the start, just a stepping stone to next year."

Michael Grabner gave the Islanders their third lead 2:21 into the third period. With the teams at even strength, New York's Keith Aucoin intercepted Kris Letang's clearing attempt and sent a cross-ice feed to Grabner, who one-timed it from the right circle past Vokoun to make it 3-2.

But, again, Pittsburgh was able to respond, thanks to a brilliant play by Malkin. The center carried the puck into the zone against four defenders before sending a pass from behind the net to the point for Paul Martin, whose slap shot went off Islanders center Frans Nielsen past Nabokov to make it 3-3 with 5:16 left in regulation.

"Before the game, it's not uncommon to try and pick guys who might score in the game," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "I don't think anyone had Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik.

"I know in every overtime, I always pick a guy in my brain who I think is going to score the game-winner. After the game, I said for sure it was [No.] 44 that I picked. But to get his first goal of the year and his first playoff goal, I don't think we thought it was coming from 44. But we'll take Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik stepping up for us and getting the win."

Islanders forward John Tavares scored first 5:36 into the game, his third goal of the series. With his team controlling the play down low, Tavares took a nice backhand feed from along the wall by Josh Bailey and ripped a wrister from the slot past Vokoun for a 1-0 lead.

"I really think we played with them," said Tavares, a finalist for the Hart Trophy. "At times, we really dictated the play and we were the better team for good points of this series. We outshot them again today. They capitalized and made the most of their opportunities when they were there more than we did. That's a team that's been through it more.

"No excuses for us … we wanted this as bad as they did. We're here for the first time. This was a chance to play in the playoffs, a chance to play for the Cup, and you don't take that for granted. We certainly know we have to come back well-prepared again next season. We've got a good idea of what brings us success on a consistent basis and we need more of that. We've got to keep pushing ourselves to get better. That's the only way we're going to achieve our ultimate goal."

Iginla tied the game, 1-1, at 7:39 of the first. Crosby took a pass from Martin and blew past defenseman Brian Strait, but Nabokov was able to deny Crosby's backhand opportunity. Iginla saw the loose puck in the crease and quickly swatted it home for his second goal of the playoffs.

It marked the fifth time in the series that the Penguins scored less than two-and-a-half minutes after an Islanders goal.

Colin McDonald regained New York's lead prior to the end of the first period with his second goal of the series with 37 seconds remaining. Following some strong work by Grabner behind the net against Martin, the puck squirted to Aucoin, who quickly sent a feed across the crease to McDonald, where he tapped it past Vokoun.

"It's a tough one," said Islanders captain Mark Streit, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July. "The team played really well. We improved a lot. We made it to the playoffs, but we lost against a pretty good hockey team. It's kind of tough to find the right words."

The Penguins tied it 2-2 with 9:01 remaining in the second period on Dupuis' fifth goal of the series. Joe Vitale raced into the Islanders' zone and snuck a feed past Strait that Dupuis quickly poked past Nabokov.

New York outshot Pittsburgh 16-6 in the second period and held a 28-13 edge after 40 minutes.

"That's a group that battles really hard," Orpik said of the Islanders. "They're obviously disappointed now, but they'll be a lot better for it in the years to come."

The Islanders left the Nassau Coliseum ice to a thunderous ovation from the crowd of 16,170. A fan base that was desperate for good times again had plenty to cheer about in 2012-13.

"We were minutes away from going to Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We've just got to build off it. I'm sure it's going to sting for a while, but you've got to be proud of the effort. It's a close-knit group in that room and that's why we were able to get where we needed to be -- to get ourselves in the playoffs."

Penguins, Senators renew rivalry in second round

Saturday, 05.11.2013 / 11:45 PM / Stanley Cup Playoffs

By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist

The Pittsburgh Penguins had to work a lot harder than anyone thought they would to get past the New York Islanders in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their next hurdle figures to be even tougher. While the Penguins had to go to overtime of Game 6 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, the Ottawa Senators were watching on TV after closing out the second-seeded Montreal Canadiens in five games on Thursday. Though the Senators were seeded seventh, they didn’t play like a lower seed. They dominated the Canadiens with a physical style of play, one much like the Islanders used to make life miserable for the Penguins in the first round. Pittsburgh had to win back-to-back games after New York earned a split of the first four, and had to overcome three one-goal deficits before

winning Game 6 in overtime. Pittsburgh swept Ottawa in their three-game season series. On Jan. 27, Evgeni Malkin registered the winning goal in a 2-1 shootout victory. It came against Ben Bishop, who was later traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Feb. 13, the Penguins won 4-2 on the strength two goals by James Neal and one each from Pascal Dupuis and Sidney Crosby. On April 22, the Penguins won 3-1. Dustin Jeffrey, Jarome Iginla and Taylor Kennedy had the goals for the Penguins, and backup goalie Tomas Vokoun stopped 34 of 35 shots to outduel Craig Anderson. That doesn't mean the Penguins expect an easy time in round two. "We've played them in the past and they always battle," Dupuis said. "Their building gets shaking at times. They're a team that obviously played well in the first round and beat Montreal, [a] seven [seed[ beat a two [seed]. So it should be a good matchup." The Penguins will have to find ways to solve Anderson if they hope to win the conference semifinal series. Anderson was Ottawa’s best player against Montreal, stopping 171 of 180 shots for a .950 save percentage. If he does that again, the Senators could pull their second upset of the playoffs. Ottawa will have to shut down Pittsburgh's big guns. Sidney Crosby had three goals and nine points in five games against the Islanders after returning from a broken jaw; Iginla scored twice and added seven assists; and Pascal Dupuis scored five times in the six games. The Penguins will have the advantage of playing the first two games at Consol Energy Center, but the Senators showed during the first round that playing on the road didn't bother them. They won Game 1 in Montreal and closed the series with a 6-1 victory at Bell Centre in Game 5. Pittsburgh got a tougher-than-expected test from the Islanders, whose speedy forwards put a lot of heat on the Penguins' defense. Captain Sidney Crosby said his team can expect more of the same from the Senators. "They're playing good hockey; they're pretty similar [to the Islanders]," Crosby said. "They have some fast forwards, a lot of skill, a lot of speed. We're going to have to do a better job of

keeping the puck out of our end and out of our net." The Senators and Penguins met three previous times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Ottawa winning a first-round series in five games in 2007 and Pittsburgh sweeping in the opening round in 2008, with each team using its victory as a starting point to a trip to the Final. They met in the first round again in 2010, with Pittsburgh winning in six games, including three victories at Ottawa. As if the series needed any extra juice, there figures to be plenty of hard feelings from the Feb. 13 meeting --that was the night when Penguins forward Matt Cooke delivered a hit to Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson that resulted in the reigning Norris Trophy winner suffering a 70-percent tear of his Achilles tendon. Karlsson missed 31 games but returned right before the end of the regular season. Karlsson showed no ill effects from the injury during the opening round. He was one of the Senators' best players in the first-round upset of the Canadiens. He shared the team lead in scoring, registering a goal and five assists playing almost 26 minutes per game. Will the Cooke-Karlsson storyline play a part in the series? "Hopefully. Why not, you know? We've been through that road before," Dupuis said. "We went there and won the game [on April 22]. So why not?" Anderson figures to play every game for the Senators. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma isn't saying who he’ll use in goal, but he switched from Marc-Andre Fleury to Vokoun before Game 5 and was rewarded with two superb efforts from the 36-year-old. Fleury has won a Stanley Cup, but Vokoun has the hot hand, at least for now.

Malkin rush swings Game 6 for Penguins

Sunday, 05.12.2013 / 12:31 AM / Penguins vs Islanders - 2013 SCP Conference Quarterfinals

By Tal Pinchevsky - NHL.com Staff Writer

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Trailing 3-2 late in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Islanders, center Evgeni Malkin's struggles typified what had been a lackluster Pittsburgh Penguins effort through two-and-a-half periods.

Until the latter stages of the third period Saturday, Malkin had been prone to giveaways, had registered one shot, and was on the ice for two of the Islanders' three goals. Then, with a chance to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the line, Malkin did what many great players do: He took over the game with a single play.

With the Penguins in the midst of a line change, Malkin sped down the right wing alone. Initiating what was a 1-on-4 rush, Malkin sped by practically the entire Islanders team to behind the net before feeding Paul Martin, who cranked a shot past goalie Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game 3-3. Then, 7:49 into overtime, Malkin earned the secondary assist on Brooks Orpik's series-clinching goal.

"That's why he's one of the best in the League. He's able to hold onto the puck and get guys coming after him. It looks like he's got his head down but he's able to find a way and find guys who are open," Martin said of Malkin. "When he gets control of the puck and uses his body to create good positioning and lug it around, other guys get open for him. If he's going like that, that's big for us."

It was a validating finish for someone who had difficulty generating chances for much of the game. He certainly wasn't the only Penguins player to make those kinds of mistakes, but they seem more glaring when they are made by one of the world's marquee players.

"I think we got into some issues in the first two periods-and-a-half," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Their forecheck caused turnovers. We saw that on all their goals and we saw that with Geno's line and with turnovers. Not just by Evgeni, but that happened to our team.

"Then in the third period, it got a lot more to our game. We started pressing and getting into the offensive zone and we had some good shifts and good opportunities. We ended up getting a play by Evgeni where he's really all by himself."

It was Martin's shot that tied the game, but the play likely doesn't happen without a patented Malkin rush that broke down the Islanders defense, leaving Martin with plenty of time and space. And just like that, any prior mistakes Malkin may have made up to that point were forgotten.

"That's what special players do. Geno's a special player. They make special plays," Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis said. "They rise to the occasion and it showed tonight that our best players were our best players to win the game."

Orpik, Martin, Vokoun unlikely Penguins heroes

Sunday, 05.12.2013 / 12:09 AM / Penguins vs Islanders - 2013 SCP Conference Quarterfinals

By Tal Pinchevsky - NHL.com Staff Writer

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins started their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the eighth-seeded New York Islanders, it was their world-class collection of stars that was supposed to carry them to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in three years.

But it became apparent early in this series it was Pittsburgh's lesser-known players who would lead the charge.

Whether it was defenseman Douglas Murray's two goals in three games, or rookie Beau Bennett scoring the game-winner in Game 1, Pittsburgh found major contributions coming from unlikely sources.

That was especially the case in the Penguins' series-clinching, 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 Saturday.

Trailing much of the night, it was a goal from Paul Martin that tied the game with 5:16 remaining in regulation before Brooks Orpik won it 7:49 into OT. Entering the postseason, the two stay-at-home defensemen had combined for 30 points in 127 playoff games. Martin's tying goal was his second postseason tally since 2008, and Orpik's winner was his first goal since Nov. 21, 2011 and the first playoff marker of his nine-year career.

"It felt great. I'm definitely not a goal-scorer; it's been a long time between goals," Orpik said. "I obviously do other things to try to help the team win. That's not what I look for, but it's always a good feeling -- especially in that situation."

On a team featuring All-Stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, James Neal and Jarome Iginla, Martin and Orpik wouldn't ever be relied on to help this team offensively. Even Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was caught off guard by the duo's contributions in Game 6.

"I didn't anticipate a goal from Paul Martin at the blue line with no one in front being the way we would get the [tying] goal," Bylsma said. "Before the game, it's not uncommon to pick guys who might score in the game. I don't think anyone had Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik."

Martin and Orpik were some of the least likely names to help carry the Penguins into the second round, but they definitely weren't the only ones. Orpik's game-winner was set up by a pinpoint pass from behind the net by Tyler Kennedy, who scored the game-winner in Game 5 after sitting out the first four games as a healthy scratch. Playing on a line with Brandon Sutter and Matt Cooke much of the night, Kennedy was a constant source of energy and provided key offensive contributions since being inserted into the lineup.

But the true star of Game 6 may have been the man absolutely no one expected would impact this series when it started May 1: goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Named the starter after backing up Marc-Andre Fleury for the first four games, Vokoun made countless big saves for the Penguins and provided stability in net that was lacking.

Vokoun made 31 saves for the shutout win in Game 5, and he was particularly sharp in Game 6, stopping 35 of 38 shots for consecutive wins, his first in the playoffs since 2007.

"There were some pretty scary moments and [Vokoun] was really strong. In the third period when we were pushing, we gave up some good scoring chances and he made two gigantic saves for us," Bylsma said. "Those were huge saves, allowed us to eventually tie it and get the game-winner. He played an outstanding game."

Senators coach: Spezza 'a long way away'

Saturday, 05.11.2013 / 11:25 AM / Stanley Cup Playoffs

By Erin Nicks - NHL.com Correspondent

OTTAWA -- While the Ottawa Senators wait to learn the identity of their opponent in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, coach Paul MacLean made it clear center Jason Spezza is an unlikely participant.

The Senators' first-line center had surgery Feb. 1 to repair a herniated disc in his back and has not played since. He started skating with the team's extra players Friday, raising hope he could return at some point during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"[There's no hope] in my mind that [Spezza] can start the next series," MacLean said. "I don't know what the hope is -- he's in a rehab process and it has him skating. To me, it's a long way away. He has to be able to play at the level of the team.

"We all know the quality of [Spezza] and the type of player he is. But at the same time, the team is playing at a certain speed. And if he can't play at that speed, it can slow things down. [His return] can't come at the detriment of the team. Don't get me wrong: When he's ready to play, we want him back. Nobody wants him back in the lineup more than the coach."

Brooks Orpik's OT goal leads Penguins to series win over Islanders

Associated Press

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Brooks Orpik's goal would have been memorable even if wasn't in overtime and didn't put the Pittsburgh Penguins into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

When you are a defensive-minded defenseman with only 12 goals in nine NHL seasons, they all tend to stand out.

Orpik fired a slap shot from the left point that hit the back of the net 7:49 into overtime Saturday night to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders that ended the Eastern Conference first-round series in six games.

The top-seeded Penguins advanced to face the No. 7 Ottawa Senators despite being outshot 38-21.

Orpik never had scored in 77 previous playoff games and didn't have one in the past 106 contests of any kind since his last goal, also against the Islanders, on Nov. 21, 2011.

"Felt great, of course, to score. I don't score too many," Orpik said.

Evgeni Malkin moved the puck from behind the net to Tyler Kennedy, who fed it to Orpik. The drive might have clipped Islanders forward Brad Boyes on its way past goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

"I'm definitely not a goal-scorer, but he laid it right on a tee for me," Orpik said. "I wish I can say I was trying to go there, but I was just trying to put it on net, and found a hole."

The Islanders were just 5:16 away from sending the series back to Pittsburgh for one more game when another defenseman, Paul Martin, got the Penguins even for the third time.

"It's great to finish it, I tell you that," goalie Tomas Vokoun said. "We got everything we could have handled. They played great and it was a tough series."

Malkin assisted on the tying and winning goals. On Martin's goal, Malkin curled behind the New York net with the puck and sent a hard pass high in the zone to Martin, who ripped a drive through traffic in front.

Michael Grabner had given the Islanders a 3-2 edge 2:21 into the third.

He scored his second career NHL postseason goal off a feed from Keith Aucoin to give the Islanders their third lead -- on their 30th shot -- against the top-seeded Penguins. The goal left Vokoun sprawled on his stomach.

The teams had alternated wins since the Penguins took the opener 5-0 at home. Pittsburgh got into position to advance to the second round for the first time since 2010 when it won 4-0 in Game 5 with Vokoun in goal instead of Marc-Andre Fleury.

"To be thrown into the middle of a series and play the way he did, that's huge," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "Especially tonight. They carried the play and had a lot of great chances. He was sturdy and solid for us."

Vokoun had trouble early matching the success he had all season against the Islanders, but still pulled out the win. The Penguins had lost all three previous postseason meetings with the Islanders -- including two defeats in Game 7.

John Tavares, Colin McDonald and Grabner gave New York leads in each period. Aucoin had two assists, and Nabokov made 17 saves.

The Islanders got back into the playoffs this year after being out of the postseason since 2007. With a move to Brooklyn upcoming in the near future, the Islanders could be turning a corner back into hockey respectability.

"We really came together," said Tavares, an NHL MVP finalist. "I hope we can bring more next year. We found out what it takes to be successful. Great character in this room. I like where we are headed."

Jarome Iginla tied it in the first, and Pascal Dupuis made it 2-2 in the second for Pittsburgh, which got 35 saves from Vokoun.

Despite being outplayed for much of the game -- as evident by the shot disparity of 28-13 through two periods -- the Penguins entered the third in a 2-2 tie.

Pittsburgh overcame a pair of New York power plays in the second -- including one for too many men on the ice that had coach Dan Bylsma irate on the bench -- and got even again when Dupuis scored his fifth of the series with 9:01 remaining.

Joe Vitale raced along the right wing boards and flung the puck in front to Dupuis, who redirected it past Nabokov.

Pittsburgh nearly took its first lead of the night in the final minute of the second when Crosby eluded Frans Nielsen behind the New York net and found Chris Kunitz at the right post for a quick one-timer that Nabokov blocked.

The Islanders showed no signs of nervousness or that the moment was too big for them, despite the lack of playoff experience throughout the roster.

New York forced the Penguins into an early icing violation that caused Bylsma to burn his lone timeout just 1:19 in in order to rest the tired players forced to stay on the ice.

The Islanders kept the pressure on, and spent a large chunk of time in the Pittsburgh end -- largely in the corners and behind the net -- but it paid off with an early goal.

Josh Bailey dug the puck out of the right corner and fed a perfect backhanded pass out to Tavares, who was left alone as he skated into the slot. Tavares grabbed the puck and snapped off a crisp wrist shot from the hashmarks that beat Vokoun at 5:36.

As the Islanders celebrated, Tavares was showered with chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P" one day after he was announced as a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

The goal carried even more significance than the 1-0 lead it created as it was the Islanders' first against Vokoun in two games this series.

Counting the regular season and his shutout win Thursday in Game 5, Vokoun entered with a 4-0 mark, an 0.69 goals-against average, and .977 save percentage this year in five games against the Islanders.

But Crosby, also one of the three Hart finalists, created the tying goal with a strong, unimpeded drive on Nabokov. Crosby surged to the net and put a backhand on the goal. Nabokov made the stop, but couldn't grab the puck before Iginla came into the middle and poked the rebound in at 7:39.

It appeared the game would remain tied until the intermission, however McDonald put the Islanders back in front 2-1 with 37 seconds left in the first.

More hard work on the end boards led to the goal as Grabner fought off Martin and managed to shove the puck out front to Aucoin, who quickly sent a pass across the crease from the left post to the right, where McDonald was left unchecked. In one motion he steered the puck into the open side before Vokoun could recover.

Game notes This was the 16th overtime game of the first round, tying last year's record. Home teams are 10-6 after going 4-12 in 2012. ... Dupuis had five goals and two assists in the series, earning at least one point in all six games. ... C Brock Nelson made his NHL debut for the Islanders. LW Jesse Joensuu, who played in Game 5, sat out. ... Malkin had nine assists in the series.

Penguins survive Islanders in six games, advance to second round vs. Senators

By Sean Leahy | Puck Daddy – 9 hours ago

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When comparing the statistical careers of Mario Lemieux and Brooks Orpik, there are many, many differences in many, many categories. But on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman achieved something that his boss never did in his NHL career: score a playoff overtime goal.

Through 78 career postseason games, this playoff goal was Orpik's biggest because it was his first ever and it gave the Penguins a 4-3 overtime victory to eliminate the New York Islanders in Game 6.

“I’d much rather get one there than in the regular season when it doesn’t really matter," said Orpik.

Before overtimes, Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma rattles his brain thinking of a player on his team who he believes will score the game-winner. In his five seasons behind the bench in Pittsburgh, he's had no reason to choose Orpik, but who doesn't love a pleasant surprise?

Another player Bylsma didn't predict to net an important goal was Paul Martin, whose shot from the point with 5:16 left in regulation deflected off Frans Nielsen's stick to force the extra period.

“[We] just feel fortunate to get that goal from Paul Martin to tie it up and be able to get the game winner here today and get that fourth win and move on," said Bylsma.

Coming off an impressive Game 5 shutout, the Penguins' struggles from Games 2-4 returned and they once again couldn't keep up with the Islanders' speed and forecheck. Their inability to exit their own zone cleanly energized the sold-out Nassau Coliseum crowd.

The Islanders didn't allow many shots on Evgeni Nabokov, outshooting Pittsburgh 38-21, and they would take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission - -but, as has been shown throughout this series, the rollercoaster ride was just beginning.

“We responded being down three different times in the game," said Orpik. "We could have easily just packed it in and not battled back.”

Through three periods, the Penguins kept answering the Islanders on the scoresheet, but never held a lead until Orpik's winner. The Islanders, behind the energy of their 16,170 fans, once again outplayed the Penguins at 5-on-5 and controlled possession during many points of the

game. By the time Orpik's goal went behind Nabokov, you could hear the sigh of relief from the Pittsburgh bench.

“Right now it just feels great to close it out and move on," said Jarome Iginla. "Nobody was taking anything for granted. We wanted to end it tonight.”

The Penguins will move on to the second round to face the Ottawa Senators for the fourth time in seven seasons. While they'll be able to take the next few days before Game 1 to shift their focus, Pittsburgh cannot forget what happened in this series.

They cannot forget how the Islanders were successful at dictating the play. They cannot forget some of the undisciplined penalties that, without the help of a strong penalty kill, could have flipped this series in the Islanders' favor. They cannot have a short memory of this series. The memories of these six games have to factor in their improvement if they're to get by the Senators.

For now, though, it's all about surviving and advancing.

Brooks Orpik scores OT winner as Penguins finish off Islanders in six (Video)

By Harrison Mooney | Puck Daddy – 10 hours ago

The New York Islanders deserved better, especially after the way they played in Game 6. But in the end, they just couldn't hold the Pittsburgh Penguins at bay. New York led for much of the third period, but with five minutes remaining in regulation, a Paul Martin slapshot ramped off Frans Nielsen's stick and past Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Then, seven minutes into the extra frame, Brooks Orpik powered another blast by Nabokov to send the Islanders home (or keep them there, I guess):

The only thing that hurts more than getting hit by Brooks Orpik: getting beat by him. That dude was nobody's overtime pick.

As I said, the Islanders deserved better. Back home in front of the Nassau faithful, they got the crowd into it early (or, at the very least, turned them up a little) by getting on the board early after John Tavares opened the scoring just five minutes in.

The Penguins would get that one back just two minutes later, as Jarome Iginla answered Tavares. But the Islanders just kept coming. By the end of the first, they were back in front.

New York controlled the play all night, outshooting Pittsburgh 38-21. Unfortunately, the Penguins got great goaltending from Tomas Vokoun, who made 35 saves in his second consecutive start and made a pretty strong argument for a third.

Pittsburgh now heads home for Round 2 versus the Ottawa Senators in a series that comes pre-loaded with a lot of big questions: Who starts in goal for Pittsburgh? Has Vokoun stolen the job going forward, or does the whole thing reset on the flight home?

Can the Penguins play the way they did versus the Islanders and get to the Eastern Conference Final? (No, probably not.)

And most importantly, with Matt Cooke and Erik Karlsson back on the same ice, will Don Brennan be writing another article about his package?

Pens drop another in Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The Providence Bruins rode a four-goal first period to a 4-2 win over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game Two of their Calder Cup playoff series.

Providence, the regular season champion who amassed 105 points, gained a 2-0 series lead against the Penguins, who had dropped a robust 8-5 contest on Friday night.

The Pens calmed the host teams’ offense for the majority of the final two periods, but all of what the Bruins need to secure the win was achieved in the early going.

WBS finished with 40 shots on goal to the Bruins 29.

“The game was more five-on-five and I think that was the big difference between the first and second period,” said Pens head coach John Hynes. “That (power play) was where they gained a little bit of momentum. We were doing some good things on five-on-five then the referees got involved, and when that happened that became a power play, penalty kill scrimmage.”

Providence connected on four of eight extra man opportunities through five periods of play in their match up with WBS.

In what would prove to be the first instance of an unsettling trend for Hynes’ club in the first, the Pens were working a man down as a result of a Joey Mormina roughing call at 4:25. Warren Peters, however, appeared to put the Pens in good stead when he hacked at and subsequently scored on a rebound down low in tight on Svedberg 15 seconds later.

Peters’ shorthanded goal, his second overall of the Calder Cup playoffs, certainly fired up the Bruins, who replied with a four-goal outburst.

Providence’s Chris Bourque figured in three of his club’s four goals in the first.

Jamie Tardif collected his sixth score of the postseason as the Bruins were working on a 5-on-3 advantage at 11:24. Bourque and Carter Camper each offered up helpers to Tardif who evened the score at 1-1 with the positive result.

The Bruins first-period offensive outburst prompted Hynes to pull Zatkoff from the net in favor of Brad Thiessen to open the second. Thiessen last saw play in the 3-2, series clinching victory against the Binghamton Senators May 2.

WBS edged closer in the latter portion of the second when Mormina’s original drive from the point ricocheted off Bruins goalie Niklas Svedberg and eventually found its way onto the stick of Brian Gibbons, who took advantage of the opportunity in narrowing the Bruins edge to 4-2.

The visitors had seen the clock tick down to 33 seconds remaining on the man advantage before Gibbons produced. For the Boston College product, it was his third score of the postseason.

“We like where we are game is at,” said Hynes in post game thoughts. “We knew we had to compete at a certain level and although we didn’t get the end result, we did that.”

Tardif’s second goal of the game, the second power play of the second for Providence gave the home club a 3-1 edge.

Zatkoff finished with 9 saves in the first while Thiessen was adept at tempering the Bruins offensive efforts in stopping all 16 shots he faced.

“Brad did a good job,” said Hynes. “I wouldn’t say that the reason we were down was Jeff’s fault but I thought our overall game was better after we made the goal change. It was a team effort (the last two periods).”

Bruins bully Pens

By Jonathan Bombulie (staff writer)

Published: May 12, 2013

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For the second straight night, the AHL's top-ranked defense got buried in an avalanche of goals.

Longtime Penguins nemesis Chris Bourque had a goal and an assist as the Providence Bruins scored three times in the final nine minutes of the first period and beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

4-2 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

The Penguins, who trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, will host Game 3 on Wednesday.

"They're obviously very dangerous offensively, especially when you give them that many power plays," defenseman Alex Grant said. "You can see they move it around very well. That's not what you want in the first period, especially right out of the gate."

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead when Warren Peters banked a shorthanded shot from below the goal line in off wandering Providence goalie Niklas Svedberg at 4:40. The P-Bruins tied the score on a Jamie Tardif goal on a 5-on-3 power play about a minute later.

That was normal enough. Special teams often play a significant role in playoff games.

Shortly thereafter, though, things got abnormal. For the second straight night, the P-Bruins scored a boatload of goals in a short amount of time.

In Game 1, it was four in a seven-minute stretch of the second period. In Game 2, it was three in the final nine minutes of the first.

Ryan Spooner finished off a long cross-crease pass from Bourque at 11:24. Tardif banged in a power-play shot at the left post at 17:25. Bourque tipped in a Tommy Cross shot from the right half-wall 28.3 seconds before intermission.

The Penguins were down 4-1 and Jeff Zatkoff was done for the evening having stopped 9-of-13 shots.

"I thought 5-on-5 we were doing a lot of good things and then the referees got involved," coach John Hynes said. "When that happened, the game became a power play-penalty kill scrimmage. In the first period of a playoff game. That's what happened."

The Penguins got the better of play the rest of the game. For one thing, Brad Thiessen came on to start the second period and stopped all 15 shots he faced.

"I thought Brad came in and did a good job," Hynes said. "I wouldn't say the reason we were down was Jeff's fault, but in general, our overall game was better after we made the goalie change. I thought it played a part in it, but it wasn't the full reason. It was a team effort. Brad came in and did a good job. It was just a point where Jeff didn't need to be under siege again."

For another thing, the Penguins outscored Providence 1-0 the rest of the way. Brian Gibbons netted a power-play goal with 5:13 left in the second to make it 4-2.

"Let's not kid ourselves. They were sitting on a lead," Peters said. "It may not have been their best and they've played a lot of hockey of late. It may have been indicative of that, but at the same time, we felt good about the fact that we got to the way we're used to playing."

In a play that will surely be scrutinized by the league office, Peters knocked defenseman Zach Trotman unconscious with a hit behind the Providence net early in the third period.

"Unfortunately, I don't think he saw me coming at all and wasn't able to brace himself," Peters said. "As far as my posture, I felt like I was low. I felt I stayed on the ice. It was a hard hit. I'm not out there to hurt anybody. I'm not trying to hurt anybody. Unfortunately, that was the result, but as far as the rules go, it's definitely unfortunate but I thought I stayed below his shoulders for sure."

Players avoid discipline

By Jonathan Bombulie (staff writer)

Published: May 12, 2013

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Providence Bruins winger Bobby Robins was not suspended for a hit that injured Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Dylan Reese in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night.

Reese did not play in Game 2 Saturday night. Cody Wild took his place in the lineup.

Robins caught Reese swinging around his own net with the puck about four minutes into the second period Friday night and delivered a crushing hit. Reese was woozy as he tried to stand up and had to be helped off the ice.

Robins, who led the AHL in penalty minutes in the regular season with 316 and leads in the playoffs with 47, told the Providence Journal that he thought Reese hit his head on the ice after a clean hit.

Penguins defenseman Joey Mormina was also not suspended for a hit he delivered to Providence winger Justin Florek in the third period. Florek was not injured, though the hit touched off a minor brawl.

HOMECOMING WEEKEND

The Dunkin' Donuts Center is within walking distance of Brown University, so the trip to Providence has been a bit of a homecoming for Penguins winger Bobby Farnham. He's from

North Andover, Mass., but the Farnhams have built a family tradition in the Brown athletic department.

Farnham is second on the hockey program's all-time games played list with 129. His father Bob (class of 1977), uncles Mark (1980) and Paul (1983) and cousin Buddy (2010) all played football at the school. All five Farnhams wore No. 46.

On top of that, Farnham did a three-game stint with the P-Bruins on an amateur tryout at the end of his senior year at Brown last season.

"We didn't make (the playoffs) last year when I was there, but it's a great spot to play," Farnham said. "They do really well attendance-wise and they have a good, loud crowd."

After spending most of March with Providence, Farnham saw an opportunity for some more playing time with Worcester, so he was released by the P-Bruins and signed by the Sharks, for whom he played three games in April.

"Finally I ended up landing here, after a long string of ATOs," Farnham said. "It worked out for me, definitely."

BY THE NUMBERS

Coming into this weekend, the Penguins had lost the first game of a playoff series 17 times in team history. They came back to win seven of those series. They lost the first two games 11 times. They came back to win four of those series.

Islanders Put On a Show, but Then the Penguins Drop the Curtain

By ALLAN KREDA

Published: May 11, 2013

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Islanders needed until the final week of the regular season to claw their way into the playoffs and secure their first postseason berth since 2007.

The Islanders waiting to shake hands with the Penguins after Brooks Orpik’s overtime goal sent Pittsburgh to the second round.

And they were a valiant eighth seed against the Eastern Conference-dominating Pittsburgh Penguins, the last team the Islanders defeated in a playoff series, albeit 20 years ago.

This time, the Islanders’ postseason stay was cut short at six games when defenseman Brooks Orpik scored 7 minutes 49 seconds into overtime to lift the Penguins to a 4-3 series-clinching victory at Nassau Coliseum.

Despite the loss, fans filled the arena with chants of “M.V.P., M.V.P.” for the star center John Tavares, and “Let’s go, Islanders” as the players shook hands at center ice.

Tavares, who scored the game’s opening goal, started looking to next season almost as soon as the Penguins sent the Islanders home for this season.

“We really came together this year,” he said. “This was a heck of a series and a team effort. We learned what it takes to be successful. There is great character in this room. I like where we are headed.”

The Penguins advanced to the second round for the first time since 2010. They will face the Ottawa Senators, who defeated the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

The Penguins found a way to win even though the Islanders dominated most of the game, outshooting Pittsburgh by 38-21.

Michael Grabner scored 2:21 into the third period to put the Islanders ahead, 3-2. It was their third lead of the game, and they seemed destined to force a Game 7 in Pittsburgh.

Grabner took a pass from Keith Aucoin before snapping the puck past the prone Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was facedown on the ice after the goal. Aucoin faked a shot before he slid the puck to Grabner, who was waiting at Vokoun’s left.

But Paul Martin tied the score at 14:44 with a slap shot from the left point through traffic that eluded Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, sending the game to overtime.

Orpik’s winner was his first playoff goal in 78 career games and his first goal of any sort since Nov. 21, 2011. That also came against the Islanders.

“Sure, the goal feels good, because I don’t score too many of them,” Orpik said. “We responded well when we were down three times. We could have packed it in, and we didn’t.”

Tavares and Colin McDonald scored first-period goals for the Islanders, sandwiched around a score by the Penguins’ Jarome Iginla. Pascal Dupuis scored for Pittsburgh in the second.

Tavares started the scoring at 5:36 of the first with his third goal of the series. Tavares whipped the puck past Vokoun after Josh Bailey sent him a feed in the slot. Defenseman Matt Carkner also assisted.

Tavares — a finalist for the league’s most valuable player award, the Hart Trophy, with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin — continued his stellar play in his first postseason appearance. A 22-year-old center, Tavares scored the winning goal in Game 4 and the tying goal in Game 3 to force overtime.

The top overall pick by the Islanders in 2009, Tavares was third in the N.H.L. with 28 goals in the regular season, including a league-high 19 even-strength goals.

Two minutes after Tavares’s goal, Iginla tied the score, 1-1, at 7:39 of the first when he banged in a rebound after Crosby rushed past the Islanders’ defense and put a shot on Nabokov.

McDonald gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 37 seconds left in the opening period when he scored from the slot on a pass from Aucoin. Grabner outmuscled Paul Martin for the puck in the left corner before passing it to Aucoin, who sent it across to McDonald alone in front.

A former Penguin and one of 15 Islanders making their playoff debuts, McDonald shoveled the puck past Vokoun for his second goal of the series.

“It hasn’t sunk in it,” McDonald said. “I do think we went a long way to gaining respect in this league. I see this experience as a steppingstone to next year.”

The Islanders had won the previous three postseason meetings with Pittsburgh (1975, 1982 and 1993), including a seven-game upset victory 20 years ago over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

In this series, Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma acknowledged that the Islanders came to play and did not relent.

“They were a very good team, and they gave us every bit the battle for six games,” Bylsma said. “They were dangerous, and we knew it. I am glad there will not be a seventh game.”

Islanders Coach Jack Capuano said there was disappointment mixed with the reality of what his team accomplished.

“We were right there with them, a team loaded with superstars,” he said. “Our guys left it all out there. We have great leadership and character, and we took huge strides this year.”

A version of this article appeared in print on May 12, 2013

For Penguins, a Timely, or Long Overdue, Change in Goal

By JEFF Z. KLEIN and STU HACKEL

How much loyalty does a team owe its star goaltender after his game goes south?

Until Thursday, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had started every Penguins playoff game since 2007, when the team returned to the postseason after a four-season absence.

Considered a core member of a highly talented club, he was the star of Pittsburgh’s 2009 Stanley Cup championship, his lunging, last-second save on Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom in Game 7 being the signature moment of their triumph.

But after a terrible three-game stretch against the Islanders in which he surrendered 14 goals, many of them soft, Fleury, 28, was replaced for Game 5 on Thursday by Tomas Vokoun, 36, ending Fleury’s playoff run at 79 games.

Many wondered why Coach Dan Bylsma waited so long to bench Fleury. Since shutting out Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the first round in 2011, Fleury went 6-10 with a 3.68 goals-against average and .864 save percentage.

Fleury’s bumbling play during an especially difficult first-round loss to Philadelphia last season proved so alarming that Penguins General Manager Ray Shero traded for Vokoun as insurance against another Fleury meltdown.

After Fleury shut out the Islanders in Game 1, his difficulties returned. He again had trouble controlling rebounds, could not cover the low corners and fumbled soft shots as the Islanders tied the series, 2-2.

It was time for Vokoun, regarded as a good goalie who played for poor teams much of his career. He had 11 games of playoff experience and won only 3.

While Bylsma was deciding whether to switch, Fleury’s teammates continued to express support for their embattled netminder and said they were upset to hear criticism of Fleury’s play.

“It definitely bothers us,” wing Chris Kunitz told reporters. “We’re a team in there. We support each other.” Kunitz pointed out that all the skaters in front of Fleury had to play better.

But Bylsma replaced him, and buoyed by Vokoun’s solid play, the Penguins shut out the Islanders to take the series lead.

It marked the first time that two goalies from the same team recorded shutouts in the same series, since Chico Resch and Billy Smith did it for the Islanders against Chicago in 1979.

Vokoun was expected to be back in goal for Game 6 on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.

If Vokoun’s strong play continues, Shero may ponder what was once unthinkable: is Fleury expendable?

It’s a Smaller World

Jaromir Jagr, a 41-year-old hockey nomad and future Hall of Famer now with Boston, was talking about this year’s playoffs when he noted something in an aside last week.

“I’m 240, and everybody else is 180,” he said, referring to his weight. “When I played 15 years ago, everybody was 230-240. It was a different game.”

Jagr was right. Ever since the N.H.L. heightened the enforcement of rules governing obstruction in the wake of the 2004-5 lockout, the game’s character has swung from crushing brawn to skilled stickhandling, skating and passing, allowing small players to thrive.

A day before Jagr uttered his aside to an ESPN reporter, Ottawa’s 5-foot-8 rookie forward Cory Conacher scored with 23 seconds left in regulation to send the Senators to overtime in Game 4 of their series against Montreal, a game they won. A day after Jagr spoke, Conacher scored twice as the Senators eliminated the Canadiens.

Another Ottawa rookie, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is 5-9, had a hat trick in the series, and Chicago’s Patrick Kane, generously listed at 5-11, accumulated five assists in the Blackhawks’ five-game elimination of Minnesota.

They all serve as a kind of retinue to the king of the little guys, Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay. The Lightning missed the playoffs, but the 5-8 St. Louis won his second regular-season scoring title, with 60 points in 48 games.

And although the hockey writers did not honor him as one of the three finalists for the league’s most valuable player, St. Louis was recognized by his peers. He is a finalist alongside Sidney

Crosby and Alex Ovechkin for the N.H.L. Players Association Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player.

The N.H.L.’s Hart Trophy finalists are Crosby, Ovechkin and the Islanders’ John Tavares.

At 37, St. Louis became the oldest scoring champion in N.H.L. history, older than the Rangers’ Bill Cook, 36, the scoring leader of 1932-33.

St. Louis won his first crown in 2004, nine years ago. It is the longest gap between scoring championships in league history. He also won the Lindsay (then called the Lester B. Pearson Trophy) and Hart awards in 2004, so he thrived as a small, skilled forward before the rules changed.

Today, there are more players like St. Louis, who rely in skill and creativity instead of raw power. As Jagr said, it is a different game.

This Opening Round Isn’t for the Squeamish

By PAUL BROWNFIELD

Published: May 11, 2013

To be a fan of a major contact sport is to be implicated when the violence becomes too real. So I felt hypocritical about looking away from the television when Ottawa’s Eric Gryba slammed into Montreal’s Lars Eller in Game 1 of their first-round N.H.L. playoff series.

It was a shoulder (Gryba’s) to the head (Eller’s) at high speed, what is typically celebrated as a clean north-south hit. Eller, who had just received a pass, was unconscious by the time his face hit the ice. He looked like a movie murder victim. The cameras offered a glimpse of the blood pooling on the ice before they cut away, and the announcers were soon discussing whether we had witnessed a violation of the league’s head-shot ban, or Rule 48.

Almost two weeks into the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Gryba hit on Eller reverberates more than any other story line.

The N.H.L. rushed through a lockout-shortened regular season and into the playoffs without a dynastic team and with its most precious cargo, Sidney Crosby, freshly injured after taking a puck to the mouth in March.

To his concussion history, Crosby added a broken jaw and some lost teeth. He is back for the playoffs, a whistle in his “s” and “sh” sounds.

He is wearing a sort of learner’s helmet, with a face shield and a mouth guard. You can barely see his face.

It is fitting that Crosby has been made more unrecognizable. Nearly a decade into the salary-cap era, the N.H.L. is in the midst of a parity period.

The last team to repeat as champion, the Detroit Red Wings, did so in 1997 and ’98. In the absence of the dynasty narrative, the N.H.L. markets the playoffs as “The Hunger Games” on ice.

A plot summary for “Hunger Games” on IMDB.com begins: “In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in the Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch.”

Well, maybe “required to watch” is a stretch.

“Anarchy rules down there,” the NBC analyst Daryl Reaugh told viewers during Game 3 of the bruising series between Los Angeles and St. Louis. This was only days after the Eller episode, and one had to wonder whether the league should have been toning down such talk.

Reaugh, like all ice-level color commentators for NBC, was standing “Inside the Glass,” meaning between the benches. Part of the network’s coverage since 2006, this feature is by far the greatest enhancement ever to hockey broadcasts, which is another way of saying I am getting to the age that I can no longer see the puck on my TV.

With the combatants on each side, commentators like Reaugh, Brian Engblom and Joe Micheletti, former players all, are credibly positioned to tell us that the situation is getting out of hand. They are not there to convey the game’s grace and choreography, a point of view that requires a higher vantage point. They are there to feel the speed and smell the blood, and to convey the possibility of extreme violence.

But the N.H.L. is prepared when that potential borders on barbarity, as with the Eller hit. The league makes videos explaining violations of Rule 48, soberly narrated by Brendan Shanahan, the league’s senior vice president for player safety; they are posted on NHL.com.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Gryba, in the heat of the game, received a five-minute interference penalty and a game misconduct for his hit on the 6-foot-2, 209-pound Eller. Some hard-core hockey pundits said the play did not even merit an interference penalty. In a Rule 48 video, Shanahan broke down the action with 13 replays of the point of impact, explaining patiently why Gryba’s route to the check, among other factors, made the hit illegal.

The league justified suspending Gryba for two games, even if the video left out a key plot point: the part where Eller was out cold and bleeding profusely.

Far from gratuitous, showing Eller’s fractured face would convey to players the risk of high-speed checks.

Writing on the Web site Grantland.com last week, the Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden said what the league could not: Gryba had to be suspended because the violence and Eller’s injury were so viscerally affecting.

“The referees, Shanahan, the commentators, and the public understood somehow that what they felt was more true than what they knew,” Dryden, a lawyer, wrote. “As any good judge

knows, if the facts make a fool of the law, adapt to the facts, or the facts and the law will make a fool of you.”

After the Eller hit, Montreal and Ottawa, separated by 125 miles, were expected to turn up the fireworks in a long series. The teams put on a good show, engaging in a “line brawl” in the third period of Game 3, and Canadiens Coach Michel Therrien called Senators Coach Paul MacLean classless.

But then everything calmed, as if a memo had gone out to everyone, and the Senators, who were playing better anyway, won the series, four games to one.

A version of this news analysis appeared in print on May 12, 2013

Islanders season over after Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik nets OT goal for Penguins win

By Stephen Lorenzo / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PENGUINS 4, ISLANDERS 3 (OT)

Thousands of rally sticks lined Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night with one word etched on them: “Believe.” The eighth-seeded Islanders made believers out of everybody in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but in the end, the Penguins were just too much.

The Islanders saw their most promising season in years come to an end at the hands of Pittsburgh, 4-3, in overtime in Game 6 of their first-round series. But the young Isles, with a move to Brooklyn on the horizon, gave the top-seeded Pens all they could handle, losing two of the games in overtime and fueling hopes of a brighter future.

“We overcame a lot this year and in the series,” center John Tavares said. “It’s just unfortunate. We just didn’t capitalize enough at the right times and make the most of our opportunities. (There’s) a great bunch of guys in this locker room. I think you see there’s something coming here.”

The Penguins advanced to face the No. 7 Ottawa Senators despite being outshot 38-21. The Isles, meanwhile, will look to build on their first playoff appearance since 2007.

“We were right there,” Isles coach Jack Capuano said. “We took huge strides as an organization. Not many people gave us a chance to get where we got … I’m proud of the way we played. We were minutes away from going to Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

They were 5:16 away to be exact, when Pens defenseman Paul Martin fired a one-timer from the point that was accidentally deflected in by the Islanders’ Frans Nielsen. Michael Grabner had given the Isles a 3-2 edge 2:21 into the third.

Nearly eight minutes into OT, Brooks Orpik won it with a slap shot from the point that beat Evgeni Nabokov stick side. The Penguins overcame three one-goal deficits en route to ending the series.

Before a raucous crowd, the spirited Islanders drew first blood at the 5:36 mark of the first period when winger Josh Bailey found Tavares in the crease. Tavares, announced as a Hart Trophy finalist on Friday, beat Tomas Vokoun glove side for his third goal of the series,and was showered with chants of “M-V-P, M-V-P.”

Just as they had done all series, the Penguins did not allow the Islanders much time to enjoy their lead. Two minutes later, Sidney Crosby took a backhand shot on a breakaway. Nabokov stopped the Crosby attempt, but Jarome Iginla put in the rebound to knot the score 1-1. With under a minute remaining in the period, Grabner hustled to steal a puck from Martin in the Penguins’ zone. Keith Aucoin then gained possession and fired a beautiful centering pass to Colin McDonald, who beat Vokoun at 19:23 to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Just when it looked like the Isles would get a huge lift from killing off their first penalty, Pens center Joe Vitale fired the puck from the wing to the crease, where Pascal Dupuis beat Nabokov for his fifth goal of the series to tie it 10:59 into the second.

Even after the Orpik game-winner, the sellout crowd stood to cheer their Islanders, who had finally brought some pride back to Uniondale.

“In a tough time like that to be acknowledged the way they acknowledged us, it was a humbling experience, a humbling moment,” McDonald said. “In a bad situation that was just a good positive. (It’s) something we can maybe hang our hats on.”

“The perception around this team in the three years I’ve been here has kind of been a laughing stock,” forward Matt Martin said. “We obviously took some big strides this season and I think we’re all excited about the future that lies ahead, being right back here next year and hopefully getting into that second round.”

Series not Nabokov’s finest work

By ZACH BRAZILLER

The Islanders will remain home for a variety of reasons, from the dormant power play to drawing the powerhouse Penguins in the opening round of the playoffs.

At the top of the list was the inconsistent play of Evgeni Nabokov in net.

A strength became a weakness for the Islanders in this thrilling series against the prolific Penguins, who advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with last night’s 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders had the lead three times and Nabokov was unable to hold it on each occasion. In the third period, less than six minutes remained between the Islanders and a Game 7 in Pittsburgh, but he was beaten by a Paul Martin shot that seemed to change direction after

bouncing off Frans Nielsen. In overtime, Brooks Oprik beat him with a long slap shot on which he was screened.

“I never want to use an excuse — no, I didn’t see it,” Nabokov said. “I didn’t get a great look at it.”

Nabokov allowed a whopping 24 goals in the series. He posted a gruesome 4.44 goals-against average and a .842 save percentage. Compare that to his solid regular season, when his 2.50 GAA and .910 save percentage helped the Isles snap a six-year postseason drought.

He was a rock and a workhorse, consistent between the pipes and durable. At the start of an abbreviated training camp, Rick DiPietro was expected by some to challenge for the starting spot. But when the season began, that notion quickly vanished.

“He was great,” Tavares said. “At times, we just didn’t make it too easy for him. We gave up some goals right in front of the net. ... It’s tough as a goalie to make three, four saves in a row. He was a leader for us all year. He was huge for us all year.”

The team was negotiating a contract extension with the 37-year-old veteran early in the year, a deal they now may be happy never was finished.

The Martin goal was the story of his series, a bad bounce he was unable to get to, though his teammates defended his play. Tavares said he “100 percent” wants Nabakov back. Captain Mark Streit credited the Penguins’ depth and talent, saying the goaltender “did his job”

“It’s not only about the goalie, it’s about the defense, too,” Streit said.

Asked about Nabokov, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said he felt his team played well defensively. He said a few of the Penguins’ goals “had eyes,” though he never mentioned Nabokov’s play specifically.

The Islanders’ future is extremely bright: The Barclays Center is waiting and more young talent is on the way. That future just may not include Nabokov.

Nielsen rating for finale

By BRETT CYRGALIS

Frans Nielsen played coy in the afternoon, but come game time, he knew exactly what was going to happen.

“There was no way I wasn’t going to play,” Nielsen said, distraught after the Islanders’ 4-3 overtime loss the Penguins at the Coliseum that ended their season in Game 6 of the opening round of the playoffs.

“I felt pretty good,” he said, speaking about the lower-body injury took him out in the second period of Game 5 and made him questionable going into Saturday night. “It was good enough.”

Nielsen said before the game he still needed clearance from the doctors, and admitted he still felt the injury. Yet the 29-year-old Dane played his regular defensive-minded role, notching 19:50 of ice time.

With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, a Paul Martin slap shot deflected off of Nielsen’s stick in front and behind goalie Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game, 3-3. Nielsen tossed his head back in disappointment, and that feeling wasn’t exactly gone afterwards, either.

“Right now, it’s tough,” Nielsen said. “Maybe when we look back in a couple weeks or months, I think we’ll realize we took a big step in the right direction. But we’re definitely not satisfied with that. We still have a long way to go, and it’s not a success until we get that Cup.”

* Joining Nielsen in the lineup was 21-year-old rookie forward Brock Nelson, making his NHL debut in replacement of Jesse Joensuu.

“The guys just told me to relax, embrace it and just play the game,” said Nelson, who got a game-low 7:44 but never looked entirely out of place. “The game doesn’t change, it’s just a step up.”

Nelson had a terrific year playing for the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, scoring 25 goals and 52 points in 66 games. He was called up at the beginning of the postseason as part of the taxi squad and took his first bow in the midst of a heated playoff series.

“Maybe at the beginning I was a little shell-shocked, kind of looking around a little bit,” he said. “But after a while I got into it and things settled down.”

* The Islanders reinserted hulking defenseman Matt Carkner for Thomas Hickey, while veteran Radek Martinek stayed in the lineup.

Though the team played a stout defensive game, the loss of top-pair defenseman Andrew MacDonald to a broken hand in Game 4 still could be felt.

“He was a key player for our team,” coach Jack Capuano said. “It’s not an excuse. ... When you go through the playoffs and you’re trying to win a Stanley Cup, there are going to be a lot of injuries.”

Isles’ revival season sunk in six

By BRETT CYRGALIS

This is the only way it could have ended for the Islanders, in a flurry of emotion and fortitude that right now feels like heartbreak, but in a week, or a month, or three months, will feel like a huge step forward.

This upstart team in the suburbs spent the vast majority of six games outplaying the Penguins, the top seed with a roster comically loaded with talent and a core that remembers how champagne tastes out of the Stanley Cup. But the way it ended in Game 6 of the first round last

night at the Coliseum was with the Islanders losing in overtime, 4-3, putting a close on a season that revitalized the franchise.

“We took huge strides as an organization,” coach Jack Capuano said. “Not many people gave us a chance to get where we got.”

No, they didn’t. With a late-season charge that got them into their first postseason since 2007, and with a series in which the young and inexperienced Islanders took two games off the Penguins and outshot them by a total of 197-167, it ended in such a hurry. With 7:49 gone by in the extra period, Brooks Orpik fired a shot from the point that weaved its way through traffic, clanked of both posts and fell behind the goal line.

Goalie Evgeni Nabokov sat on his knees frozen, and the only sound left above the murmurs of the 16,170 disbelieving fans was the cruel resonance of puck on metal that will haunt the Islanders into the offseason — the first offseason in a long time that has discernable and realistic promise.

“I think we understood what it took to get here, and we have a better understanding of what the playoffs are all about,” said John Tavares, who opened the scoring 5:36 into the first in another gripping performance from the deserving Hart Trophy finalist. “Hopefully we learn from this.”

It’s tough to say really where the Islanders went wrong in this one, outshooting the Penguins 38-21, keeping the most dangerous opposing players mostly to the outside of the ice and limiting their rushes into the offensive zone. But somehow the Penguins always found a way to match the Islanders’ surges, negating Tavares’ opener just 2:01 later with a stuff-in from Jarome Iginla. When Colin McDonald gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead late in first, it was wiped out by Pascal Dupuis’ fifth goal of the series, 10:59 into the second.

Yet early in the third, in the midst of what seemed to be the next chaotic episode in a recent organizational narrative of disappointment, it seemed the hockey gods stopped their regular business just long enough to smile on the Islanders.

Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun misplayed the puck, Norris Trophy finalist Kris Letang handed one to Keith Aucoin, who passed it to Michael Grabner and his one-timer hit the open net, giving the Islanders a inspiring 3-2 lead.

Yet the good graces were fleeting. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Paul Martin took a long slap shot that deflected off the stick of Islanders forward Frans Nielsen, again hitting the unfriendly crossbar to tie it, 3-3.

Then the overtime, the heartbreak and ... the standing ovation?

“I’ve appreciated every single time someone comes up to me and tells me they’re an Islanders fan,” said Tavares, showered all night with MVP chants, none louder than after the season had ended.

“We can’t expect things just to come again next year. If we push ourselves and understand it’s going to take even more from us, I like where we’re headed and our opportunities going forward.”

Isles must go forward

By LARRY BROOKS

The Islanders raised all the echoes over the last week, but that isn’t this team’s most significant achievement.

By forcing the Penguins to six games before overtime elimination at the Coliseum last night despite outplaying wobbly Pittsburgh by a substantial margin, the Islanders raised expectations.

Without expectations, there is nothing in sports.

Without expectations, there have been the Islanders, isolated in a peculiar warp of irrelevance for most of the last decade.

But not anymore. Or at least not for the moment.

Because even though — or, who knows, maybe even because — Brooklyn looms, there are the Rangers to suck up the attention hockey receives around these parts unless there is something extraordinary happening across the moat surrounding Manhattan.

Or even if something extraordinary is happening, because the score in Stanley Cups since 1980 is Islanders and Devils 7, Rangers 1, and none of that ever made much of an impact here because Original Six always has had more cache and appeal than Silver Seven.

There are expectations now from the Islanders, who will have the responsibility to build off this season and off this week.

There are expectations on management to conduct business in a manner that will honor the franchise, its fans and its players and to cut the cord with hokey moves that are motivated as much by reaching the payroll floor as reaching for the competitive ceiling.

It is not about romance on the Island and it won’t be about romance after the move into the boroughs. It will be about the grunt work, about the daily grind that separates first-round challengers and Stanley Cup winners.

You’re darn right John Tavares is as worth the price of admission as he is worthy of the Hart Trophy. There are Tavares and Henrik Lundqvist on a pedestal of their own in these hockey parts, allowing, of course, for Martin Brodeur on our ice sculpture of Mount Rushmore.

Kyle Okposo seems to have become the player we’ve all been waiting for these last few years. Josh Bailey does appear to have been worth all of the maneuvering that preceded his selection in the Entry Draft, after all. Matt Moulson, pitched to the Rangers a long time ago as a free agent, is a core guy.

It is impossible not to admire the way Travis Hamonic competes or the dependable professionalism emanating from Mark Streit. It is the fault of none of these players, none of the laborers, that they have been a punch line for years.

There is speed up front and there is patient poise behind the bench, from where Jack Capuano and his staff have cultivated improvement without accepting youth or the payroll as excuses for failure.

The path here, to the overtime of Game 6 of the first round and to accompanying accolades was actually the easy part. It’s not about being quirky anymore. It’s about solidifying. About building on a solid foundation. About getting from here to there by becoming the type of franchise that can attract marquee free agents.

It won’t be about the building in Brooklyn. It will be about the organization.

The Islanders have been playing with house money against the Penguins, and I bet you thought it was Charles Wang’s money. This is the last time for that.

One round doesn’t quite qualify as a joy ride. But it has sure been fun. The Islanders have raised the echoes. They have raised expectations.

Now comes the hard part. Now it gets serious. It’s about time.

* Yes, I had Jonas Brodin as one of my top three for the Calder (behind Brandon Saad and Brendan Gallagher) but I don’t think the first-pair Minnesota defenseman’s omission from the top three rookie vote-getters is a sign the system of balloting is broken.

And no, I did not have Jonathan Toews in my top three for the Hart even though he’d be among my top three skaters with whom I’d start a team—maybe top two—and I don’t think it’s a sign of ignorance or an outrage that the Chicago center finished behind Tavares, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby (in no particular order) in the MVP balloting.

What I could never understand about the Hart, by the way, is that Bobby Orr didn’t win it every year of his career in Boston.

* You won’t ever find unanimity in the NHL, except for the belief officiating is by far the weakest part of the game, a notion reinforced this spring.

The American net is going to be in pretty good hands in Sochi, don’t you think, with Jonathan Quick and Craig Anderson at the top of the depth chart?

Paul MacLean isn’t the most sensitive guy on the planet, that’s become obvious enough, but then there’s nothing sensitive about the way the Walrus’ team plays hockey.

Nobody but nobody plays with more heart than Brandon Prust, but it’s the other body parts that are likely to go way before the end of his four-year deal with Montreal.

Add Vancouver to the dubious achievement roster of the most excellent teams that failed to win, one with the GAG Line Rangers and French Connection Sabres at the top.

Or as we call it here, Emile’s List.

Islanders are out of playoffs after loss to Penguins

By BRETT CYRGALIS

This is the only way it could have ended for the Islanders, in a flurry of emotion and fortitude that right now feels like heartbreak, but in a week, or a month, or three months, will feel like a huge step forward.

This upstart team in the suburbs spent the vast majority of six games outplaying the Penguins, the top seed with a roster comically loaded with talent and a core that remembers how champagne tastes out of the Stanley Cup. But the way it ended in Game 6 of the first round Saturday night at the Coliseum was with the Islanders losing in overtime, 4-3, putting a close on a season that revitalized the franchise.

“We took huge strides as an organization,” coach Jack Capuano said. “Not many people gave us a chance to get where we got.”

No, they didn’t. With a late-season charge that got them into their first postseason since 2007, and with a series in which the young and inexperienced Islanders took two games off the Penguins and outshot them by a total of 197-167, it ended in such a hurry. With 7:49 gone by in the extra period, Brooks Orpik fired a shot from the point that weaved its way through traffic, clanked of both posts and fell behind the goal line.

Goalie Evgeni Nabokov sat on his knees frozen, and the only sound left above the murmurs of the 16,170 disbelieving fans was the cruel resonance of puck on metal that will haunt the Islanders into the offseason — the first offseason in a long time that has discernable and realistic promise.

“I think we understood what it took to get here, and we have a better understanding of what the playoffs are all about,” said John Tavares, who opened the scoring 5:36 into the first in another gripping performance from the deserving Hart Trophy finalist. “Hopefully we learn from this.”

It’s tough to say really where the Islanders went wrong in this one, outshooting the Penguins 38-21, keeping the most dangerous opposing players mostly to the outside of the ice and limiting their rushes into the offensive zone. But somehow the Penguins always found a way to match the Islanders’ surges, negating Tavares’ opener just 2:01 later with a stuff-in from Jarome Iginla. When Colin McDonald gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead late in first, it was wiped out by Pascal Dupuis’ fifth goal of the series, 10:59 into the second.

Yet early in the third, in the midst of what seemed to be the next chaotic episode in a recent organizational narrative of disappointment, it seemed the hockey gods stopped their regular business just long enough to smile on the Islanders.

Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun misplayed the puck, Norris Trophy finalist Kris Letang handed one to Keith Aucoin, who passed it to Michael Grabner and his one-timer hit the open net, giving the Islanders a inspiring 3-2 lead.

Yet the good graces were fleeting. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Paul Martin took a long slap shot that deflected off the stick of Islanders forward Frans Nielsen, again hitting the unfriendly crossbar to tie it, 3-3.

Then the overtime, the heartbreak and ... the standing ovation?

“I’ve appreciated every single time someone comes up to me and tells me they’re an Islanders fan,” said Tavares, showered all night with MVP chants, none louder than after the season had ended.

“We can’t expect things just to come again next year. If we push ourselves and understand it’s going to take even more from us, I like where we’re headed and our opportunities going forward.”

Sebonack superintendent has Islanders job

May 11, 2013 7:06 PM

By MARK HERRMANN mark

For a course superintendent, preparing for a major championship is like a hockey team being in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sebonack Golf Club's Garret Bodington knows all about majors, having worked at Augusta National and Bethpage Black. He also knows about the playoffs, too, taking his usual spot last night as an off-ice official at the Islanders game.

Bodington was a goalie for the University of Rhode Island, while he was getting the degree in turf management that is helping get Sebonack ready for the U.S. Women's Open June 24-27. It obviously is a busy time. He had a meeting with U.S. Golf Association officials at the course Friday, and by the time he was done, he had 30 messages on his cell phone.

But even a major-bound superintendent does not work at night, so he worked the Penguins penalty box in Game 6. "I have a lot of passion for the game of golf, but I've always loved putting on skates and frustrating shooters," said the man who has been an off-ice official at the Coliseum for 10 years.

He has worked at golf courses since he was 12, and benefited from his time on the crew at Augusta. His passion for hockey goes back even longer, from when he grew up in Cranston, R.I., 10 blocks from Islanders coach Jack Capuano. Their families are friends. The two men have brothers who played on each other's teams.

"It's nice to see him getting kudos for all the hard work on the long road to getting where he is," Bodington said.

Bodington has received kudos for the way he has tended Sebonack from its inception. Club owner Michael Pascucci said last month that Bodington "has the place immaculate." LPGA pros and USGA agronomists also have been impressed. At the meeting Friday, Bodington said, "They

wanted to make sure we're on the same page so that when they come out four weeks from now, they won't be surprised by anything.

"I think there's a correlation between working a golf tournament and working a playoff game," he said. "The pressure is on. You don't want to make a mistake because you know it will be magnified."

Competition

Joe Saladino of Huntington Country Club won the Havemeyer Invitational yesterday for the second time in four years. Saladino scored a 5 and 4 final victory over Ryan Barnett of Noyac Golf Club to capture one of the most prestigious and venerable amateur events on Long Island. It has been held annually since 1951 at Southward Ho Country Club in Bay Shore in honor of Horace Havemeyer, the member who rescued the club from insolvency in 1945 . . . Annie Park of Levittown, the top player for USC, tied for the title at the NCAA Women's West Regional, and led the Trojans to the team championship. Kelly Shon of Port Washington and Princeton shot 7-under par for the three-round East Regional, finishing second. Both players qualified for the NCAA championship, May 21-24 at the University of Georgia . . . The Long Island local qualifier for the men's U.S. Open will be at the Baiting Hollow Club Thursday. It is open to the public. First on the tee at 8:15 will be Farmingdale teenager Matt Lowe.

Islanders season ends with OT loss to Penguins

By ARTHUR STAPLE

They may not be able to let it sink in just yet, with the sting of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins ending the Islanders' playoff run last night, but this team has accomplished quite a bit in this condensed season.

Brooks Orpik's seeing-eye shot from the point clanged off both posts and behind Evgeni Nabokov 7:49 into overtime to end this Eastern Conference quarterfinal in six games.

Even as the dejected Isles shook hands with the Penguins, the Nassau Coliseum crowd chanted for the home team after it was eliminated. And the Penguins players offered more than just hollow congratulations.

"We respected their team and the way they played," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "They are going to be in a lot of playoffs."

But the Islanders are out of this first one in six years, unable to hold a 3-2 lead into the final minutes of the third, with Paul Martin's shot deflecting off Frans Nielsen's stick and past Nabokov with 5:16 left in regulation to tie it.

The Isles had a couple good chances in overtime to force a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh Sunday, but Tomas Vokoun stood tall, with 35 saves. The Isles outshot the Penguins 38-21.

There were other negatives, like the Isles going 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 6 and just 2-for-20 for the series. Kyle Okposo and Keith Aucoin both had chances on two-on-ones with the Isles clinging to that 3-2 lead in the third, but both were denied by Vokoun.

"It was the ability to score when we had chances and special teams," Jack Capuano said.

The differences were painfully slim between the top-seeded Penguins and the Islanders.

"It literally could have gone either way," Travis Hamonic said. "That's the most frustrating thing about it."

The Isles grabbed the lead twice in the first period, with John Tavares scoring his third of the series and Colin McDonald tapping in a feed from Aucoin with 37 seconds left in the first for a 2-1 lead.

Pascal Dupuis tied it and the game went to the third even; Michael Grabner scored off a pass from Aucoin 2:15 into the third and the Isles were gunning for a deciding Game 7.

But Evgeni Malkin charged around the Isles net and found Paul Martin for the deflected one-timer.

Capuano said his players had nothing to be ashamed of. After going 11-2-4 over the final 17 games of the regular season to grab a playoff berth, not many observers gave the Isles a puncher's chance against the Penguins.

Despite a Game 1 no-show and a disappointing Game 5 performance, the Isles were the more forceful team for a greater chunk of the series.

"We took some big strides as an organization," Capuano said. "Not many people gave us a chance to do some of the things we did. Anybody that watched the games, that saw the crowd . . . I'm sure we've got some respect around the league right now."

And certainly the respect of their opponents.

"Going through the [handshake] line, hearing what some of their guys said . . . 'You guys are a good team,'" McDonald said. "I don't think a lot of guys around here have heard that in a while."

"And the crowd, to do that at the end of the game, at a tough time, I thought that was awesome. To be acknowledged in a bad situation is something we can hang our hats on."

The Islanders had a strong sense that they were close to pulling off a significant upset.

"We could have taken a bigger lead, but we couldn't do it," Tavares said. "They stayed with it and that's ultimately why they're moving on."

Islanders pump new life into their fans

May 12, 2013 12:12 AM

By MARK HERRMANN

This is when it would be natural to say what a good ride this was for the Islanders and how bright their future surely is. Except that would be disrespectful and patronizing to a team that has no interest in moral victories.

In the days ahead, there will be time for postmortems and silver linings. Last night -- when their season ended after they lost a lead late in the third period and fell, 4-3, in overtime -- was not that time. "It's a tough pill to swallow," John Tavares said.

Mark Streit said, "It's a tough one. It's tough to find the right words right now."

Well, here's a stab at the right words: The Islanders matter again. These Islanders dusted off the team's identity and polished the fervor that has been there all along. The tough, stirring six-game series against the Penguins that ended at Nassau Coliseum last night proved that this franchise is much more than an antiquated idea.

Islanders fans are dedicated and passionate. They just aren't saps. No way were they going to buy into a dead-end situation. Thus, they were not here in strong numbers or hearty voice in recent years.

At the intersection of hope and nostalgia, fans grew to love the team in a way not seen around here in years. "I haven't been around, but we hopefully gained some respect back in the league and with our fans and the community," said forward Colin McDonald, who had one of the three goals that gave the Isles a lead. "I think we have."

This just feels different than the playoff appearances last decade, which were fueled mostly by veterans. Fans in 2013 are pumped about the youth, speed and style of play. They see the credibility in Tavares, an emerging superstar and league MVP candidate. Naturally, he scored the first goal last night.

So, here's to tomorrow -- and to yesterday. Alongside all the forward thinking is a wistful, end-of-an-era vibe. Islanders fans know that Nassau Coliseum's days are numbered. For better or worse, things will not be the same in Brooklyn. So this playoff run has been not only a tribute to what the Islanders might become, but a celebration of what they have been.

There was stunned silence after Brooks Orpik's OT goal. Then there was warmth. The organist played the Islanders theme song, which dates back to the 1970s. Fans chanted "Let's Go Islanders!" and, for Tavares, "M-V-P!" Players skated around, tapping their sticks on the ice to salute the fans.

"I've appreciated every single time someone has come up to me and said how proud they are to be an Islander fan," Tavares said. "They were absolutely unbelievable this series, and down the stretch. We hope we can bring them some more."

There is more work to do if they want to raise a banner someday to the Barclays Center ceiling. Coach Jack Capuano spoke earlier yesterday, proudly, about how this team has inherited the blue-collar mentality of the Islanders' dynasty. But those teams had five Hall of Famers. Al Arbour's Islanders won 19 straight playoff series. As of now, the team has gone 20 years without having won one.

These Islanders need to add pieces. They didn't have the Penguins' depth or Plan B options.

It was a good sign last night that players were genuinely, deeply disappointed. It showed they were never happy just to be in the playoffs. "We can't expect things to just come next year," Tavares said. Then he added, "I like where we're headed."

They were good enough to make Nassau Coliseum the center of the hockey universe for the first time in years. It was a great show, and it was a reminder that this franchise always has been a good idea.

Islanders earn respect of Crosby, Penguins in tough series

By ANTHONY RIEBER

The Penguins didn't come back to Long Island last night to praise the Islanders. They came to finish them off.

But the No. 8 seed Islanders clearly earned the respect of top-seeded Pittsburgh through a six-game series that ended with the Penguins' 4-3 overtime victory at Nassau Coliseum.

"They're a good hockey team. They're going to be in more playoffs," Penguins star Sidney Crosby said.

"It was an all-out battle that they gave us," said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma.

The Islanders were 5:16 away from forcing a Game 7 tonight in Pittsburgh when defenseman Paul Martin scored to tie it at 3 and eventually send the game into overtime.

The Penguins won 7:49 into OT when Brooks Orpik beat Evgeni Nabokov with a slap shot from the point that hit off both posts and ended up in the net. It was Orpik's first playoff goal and sent the Penguins to a second-round date with the Ottawa Senators.

"Obviously, it's not as easy as people would think," Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun said before he made 35 saves to help finish off the gritty Islanders.

Said Crosby: "We said that from the start: We respected their team and the way they played. We knew that they had a lot of guys that were dangerous with a ton of skills. They played the way we expected but ultimately we felt we could have done a better job in certain areas, too, but you've got to give them a lot of credit. They played good hockey."

The Penguins overcame three one-goal deficits Saturday night. Bylsma said he thought the Islanders got "a little bit tentative defensively" trying to protect their final lead of the season in the third period.

Still, Bylsma was glad he doesn't have to face the Islanders again in a Game 7.

"Before the series, pundits were talking about the series [ending] in five," he said. "They were a very good team. They're a dangerous team. Their speed gave us a lot to handle. They came at

us in a lot of different ways. It was every bit of a battle out there through six games. Even in this game they came out early and showed that.

"Regardless of the fact they're a young team or they haven't had tons of playoffs, they're a very good team and I just feel fortunate to really get that goal from Paul Martin to tie it up and be able to get the win here today, get the fourth win and move on."

The Penguins started slow; Bylsma called a timeout 1:19 into the game. But it wasn't enough to stop the Islanders' early surge. John Tavares scored at 5:36.

The Penguins answered quickly when Jarome Iginla tied it 2:03 later off a rebound of a Crosby shot.

Colin McDonald beat Vokoun with 37 seconds to go in the first period to make it 2-1. The Pens tied it on Pascal Dupuis' goal at 10:59. It was his fifth of the series.

Michael Grabner gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead 2:21 into the third period with his first of the playoffs. But Martin tied it at 14:44 with his first goal of the series to send it to overtime.

John Tavares' star is born after a strong playoff debut

By TOM ROCK

Getting to the Stanley Cup playoffs has been a driving force for most of John Tavares' career. Now, he said, he'll be pushed by a desire to get back and take the next step: winning a series.

"That's what I'll be thinking about all summer," he said.

The Islanders' star center was reflective after last night's 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins in Game 6 of their series, having just left the ice from the most devastating loss of his NHL career to the sounds of the Nassau Coliseum crowd serenading him with a chant of "M-V-P!"

"Hopefully we're going to understand it's going to take even more to win a series," Tavares said. "It's still tough to take it all in right now. It's just disappointing. We wanted to play tomorrow and into June."

Tavares kept talking about never knowing how many chances a player will get in the postseason, but it's hard to imagine he'll be stuck on one for very long. In his first playoff series he was tied for the team lead in goals (3) and points (5) and further exerted himself as the centerpiece of a young up-and-coming team.

"This is something where we want to be every year," he said. "We've got a young group that's going to be together and we found what works for us and what it takes to be successful and we need more of that next year at another level. It's a good step, but we have a lot of work to do."

Tavares is one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, the award for the NHL's MVP. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are the other two finalists.

"He's a special player, an elite player in this league," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "There is no question in my mind that the Hart Trophy is something he has a very good chance at. He's right up there with the other two guys."

Tavares showed his star power when he scored the first goal of the game, taking a pass from Josh Bailey just over five minutes into the game. But it's not just goal-scoring that the Islanders are looking for from Tavares as they move forward with this core group.

"There are a lot of young guys in our locker room who learned a lot from John Tavares this year, not just on the ice but the way he handles himself off the ice," Capuano said. "He's a special guy."

Tavares could also be a useful chip when it comes to luring more talent to the team in free agency. As Capuano pointed out, "good players want to play with good players." The Islanders have at least one. Probably more. But one above the rest.

"The group in this locker room, we understand now what it takes each and every day to be successful and to compete with these teams in the league, especially a great team like Pittsburgh," Tavares said. "We overcame a lot this year and it's just unfortunate we didn't capitalize enough at the right times and make the most of our opportunities.

"I think you see there's something coming here."

Islanders defense adjusts with loss of Andrew MacDonald

Published: May 11, 2013 9:12 PM

By ARTHUR STAPLE

There was a pretty stringent adjustment period for the remaining Islanders defensemen in Game 5, their first without Andrew MacDonald. Brian Strait took MacDonald's spot on the top defense pair with Travis Hamonic and acquitted himself decently in the 4-0 loss, but MacDonald, out for the remainder of the postseason with a broken hand, was certainly missed.

"Everybody just had to pick it up, we all had some more responsibilities," said Strait, who ended up playing 21:29 in Game 5, four seconds fewer than he played in Game 4, when MacDonald was hurt. That had more to do with the score of Game 5 than anything. "I got some new duties, [Radek Martinek] had some PP time, we all had a little PK time. A-Mac did a lot of things for us."

Jack Capuano adjusted his defense again for Game 6 Saturday night, putting Matt Carkner back in the lineup in place of Thomas Hickey. Carkner played Games 2-4. Hickey, who emerged as a capable player during the regular season, had his struggles in his two games this series.

His roughest moment was Sidney Crosby's slick move past him for the Penguins' third goal in Game 5.

MacDonald needed surgery on his hand on Tuesday night, when it was broken by a Douglas Murray shot in the second period of Game 4. His recovery is 6-8 weeks.

Penguins keep same lineup

Dan Bylsma made no changes from his Game 5 lineup, sticking with Tyler Kennedy and Joe Vitale over Jussi Jokinen and Beau Bennett up front and Simon Despres over Mark Eaton on defense.