May 5, 2013 New York Islanders notebook for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
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Islanders notebook: Rivalry with Penguins growing
By Denis Gorman
Published: Sunday, May 5, 2013, 6:24 p.m.
Updated 5 minutes ago
In recent years, the rivalry between the New York Islanders and Penguins has been akin to a little brother demanding respect from an older, more accomplished sibling.
But that might be changing.
One of the subtexts of the Eastern
Conference first-round series has been an increasing level of physical
and verbal nastiness between the Atlantic Division rivals.
The teams have congregated after every
whistle to exchange shoves and cross words to the enjoyment of Islanders
defenseman Travis Hamonic.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn't part
of our game plan, what we want to do as a whole,” Hamonic said. “That's
all part of playoff hockey. Hits are harder, the plays are more
intense, everyone elevates their battle level.
“I know for myself, I like it.”
PK not OK
The numbers don't lie.
Through the first three games of the
series, the Islanders have been unable to neutralize the Penguins'
lethal power play. The Penguins are 6 for 13 on the power play. Sunday,
the Islanders yielded three man-down goals on five power plays against,
including Chris Kunitz's game-winner.
“Special teams (are) always a big factor
in the outcome of your games,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “I
thought (Sunday) that was the difference.”
Is the issue the Penguins' personnel or the Islanders' structure?
“It's a little bit of both,” Capuano said.
“Your penalty kill obviously starts in goal and works its way out. We
have a certain structure that we want to use.
“We took some wrong routes on our penalty
kill. The entries for them were way too easy. They established zone time
right away, and they were able to work the puck in the zone.
“When you allow that to happen, with the
skill guys that they have, they're going to take advantage of it. To me,
when I look at the penalty kill, it's the first eight seconds, it's the
desperation. We won some key faceoffs tonight; we never cleared the
puck 200 feet. That all comes back to haunt you, and that's what
happened. Execution on the PK, from a details standpoint, has to be
better.”
Streak continues
The Islanders have lost seven
straight playoff games at Nassau Coliseum. The last time the Islanders
won a playoff game at home was April 28, 2002, when they beat the
Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3, in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference
quarterfinal series. Toronto won that series in seven games.
http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/3964332-74/islanders-game-games#axzz2STMF6pct
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 11:17 PM
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