2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Pittsburgh Penguins bounce back to win 3-2 against the New York Islanders in overtime
The 50th game of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series saw the Pittsburgh Penguins play the New York Islands. The match took place at the CONSOL Energy Centre, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins this Friday. The 2009 champions, Pittsburgh Penguins
were looking to win after they lost the previous match to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. The New York Islanders also eyed a win after they lost their encounter with the Washington Capitals. The New York Islanders were playing their 4th game of the
season while the Pittsburgh Penguins played their 5th match.
1st Period
The 1st period didn’t see much happening as there were no goals during the opening 20 minutes of the match. The York Islanders came up with early shots but it was for a short span of time. There were no dangerous attacks just the ordinary shots
that could have gone in with the help of a slip or mistake by the defence. Apart from the opening few minutes, the New York Islanders couldn’t manage to come out with anything that could have been ‘goal threatening’.
The home team, Pittsburgh Penguins dictated the game from them onwards and controlled the pace of the game. Though didn’t score in the period, but with the dominating performance they proved that the Penguins were still a force that could win the Stanley
Cup.
The period ended goalless with the Pittsburgh Penguins making 8 goal attempts and the New York Islanders making 3 goal attempts. But none of the 11 shots in the period went past the goal keepers.
2nd Period
The 2nd period showed the true sides of both teams that their strength was on the offence rather than staying back. The defence for both teams was same but it was the attacking mentality that led to 4 goals being scored in the period.
Though the New York Islanders got out of the blocks quickly and fired a few shots, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins who broke the deadlock. The goal came from Michael Rupp who scored in the 5th minute to put the Penguins in the lead by hitting a
splendid backhand from 10 feet.
The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t take the foot off the gas and continued their search for another goal to establish a further lead. They were successful in doing so when Eric Tangradi scored for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 7th minute to take
the score to 2-0. The goal was a result of wrist off shot from the face of the goal.
With the 2 goal lead, the home team thought that they would be sitting in a comfortable position but this was not to be, as the away team also bounced back. The New York Islanders were able to make a comeback when they scored 2 goals to level things at the
end of the period. The first goal came from Bailey who scored in the 12th minute from close range that took the score to 2-1.
The New York Islanders pressed on in search of another goal and scored to level things in the 14th minute when they score through Martinek. The goal came from 22 feet away through a splendid wrist off shot.
The period ended with the scorer level at 2-2, as both teams scored twice during the period with the New York Islanders making 9 goal attempts and the Pittsburgh Penguins making 11 goal attempts.
3rd Period
The third was goalless as both teams were able to maintain a good, tight and strong defence that dominated play.
With both teams making occasional goal attempts, it was either the defence or the goal keeper that prevented the puck from going into the goal. The game went into overtime as a result with the New York Islander making 10 goal attempts and the Pittsburgh
Penguins making 7 goal attempts.
When the overtime started, the New York Islanders made a few goal attempts but it was the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions, Pittsburgh Penguins who scored in the 2nd minute through Alex Goligoski to win the match 3-2.
"We were pressing a bit during the game," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said of the power play,
"but timing is everything sometimes. And we got it when we needed it."
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