In Pittsburgh, the woes of the Penguins continued as they lost to the New York Islanders, 3-1. The loss kept the Pens from clinching a playoff berth and now must win against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday to get in.
John Tavares netted game-winner over Pens – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“Getting frustrated isn’t going to help it,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “I think you just keep working hard. Keep battling. We were all around the net. We generated some good chances. A lot of pucks around the net. We competed hard in the corners. All the things you need to do to generate goals and, like I said, you just have to trust it’s going to go in.
“But getting frustrated or trying to change the plan, that kind of thing, it’s not going to help anything. We believe in the way we play.”
John Tavares picked up the game-winner for the Isles in the third period.
“The last two games in particular, those are big games,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “Big moments. How do our players rise up to the occasion? We didn’t get the results, but I look at the games and we’ve played, you could say four of six really good periods. We just didn’t score tonight on our opportunities.
“We had some great opportunities. We just didn’t score.”
Michael Grabner scored a shorthanded goal with less than four minutes left in regulation to ice the win for New York.
“We just regrouped,” Grabner said. “We knew there was a lot on the line here. We came out and played a pretty solid game. We knew they were going to have a lot of desperation in their game. We kind of weathered the storm early and, obviously, Halak played a great game for us, in the first especially.”
Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves in win over Pens – file photo by Lewis Bleiamn
Jaroslav Halak’s 37 saves backstopped the Isles to the win.
“It was good for us it didn’t go in,” Halak said. “It could’ve been a different game. Scoring right away, getting the first goal and momentum would be on their side. … We knew they were going to come hard. They’re a desperate team. Obviously, they want to make the playoffs. I think they came out hard and in the first 10 minutes; it was hard for us to get in the game.”
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