Snap Shots: Pens 4, Islanders 3 (OT)
* What an entertaining final frame. After an average first two periods, the Pens had appeared to break it open with goals from Phil Kessel and Riley Sheahan just 32 seconds apart in the first half, and from there, they continued to dominate both ends of the ice. Not only did they create chances offensively, they locked it down defensively, holding the Islanders to just one shot for most of the period.
But while the Isles were on the ropes, they weren't knocked out. They began punching back, applying pressure on the forecheck and making it difficult for the Pens to get out of their zone. They ended up scoring twice to force overtime, where Matt Hunwick played the hero to get Pittsburgh the win. The players weren't thrilled about letting their lead go - "When you're up two with five minutes to go we have to be able to close those games out," Hunwick said - but they did a good job of resetting and making sure they at least got the extra point in a heated Metro Division battle.
* The Pens dominated the special teams battle in this game. They went 2-for-2 on the power play with goals from Kessel and Jake Guentzel. The biggest reason for their success? Shooting the puck. Seems simple, but it's not always for a team this talented. "I think if we do that it gets the PK running around a little bit," Guentzel said. Kris Letang let one go on the first power play that Guentzel got his stick on to extend his season-long point streak to five games (4G-3A-7P). Later, Letang fed a pass to Kessel that he sniped for his 14th of the year.
Meanwhile, the Pens got into some penalty trouble during the first 40 minutes, taking four over that span - three of them being those frustrating stick infractions. But the Pens' shorthanded specialists did a tremendous job of killing all of those off with their willingess and commitment to blocking shots. When those shots did get through, Tristan Jarry made some tough stops through traffic, with net-front presence Anders Lee, one of the best in the league at screening netminders, planted directly in front of him.
* Overall, Jarry was terrific tonight. The Islanders entered tonight's game with the NHL's No. 2 ranked offense, featuring two of the NHL's top-five goal scorers in Lee and John Tavares. And they had plenty of chances in all situations, but Jarry came up with some huge saves. He had one in the opening minutes on a point-blank chance from Andrew Ladd at the top of the crease and continued from there. Even when the Isles tied it up to force overtime, Jarry remained calm, kept his team in it and gave them a chance to win, which is all you can ask of your goaltender.
* Over the last couple of days, the Pens have talked about needing to make simple plays and get behind teams. They didn't do it as often as they probably would have liked, but when they did they got rewarded with Sheahan's goal. On the play, the Pens got the puck in deep. Isles goalie Jaroslav Halak went to play it, and Carl Hagelin was all over him. He forced a turnover that got to Sheahan in front, and he whipped it into the top corner of the net before Halak could scramble back into position. The Pens' speed is their strength, and when they use it to their advantage they're so difficult to play against.
