For the second straight series, the Pens jumped on the board right away in Game 1, tagging the Ottawa Senators with the first of two power play goals at 2:41 of the first off the stick of Paul Martin. Evgeni Malkin would net the game-winner on an easy tip-in later in the first as the Pens rolled to another convincing Game 1 victory over the Senators in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz also scored for the Pens.

The post Hey Now. Penguins 4, Senators 1 (Recap) appeared first on Slew Footers.

That started with naming Tomas Vokoun the Game 1 starter more than a day in advance of Tuesday’s Game 1 match between the Penguins and Ottawa Senators, partially easing the “who will start?” narrative that is going to stick with the Pens for the remainder of their postseason.

With the Penguins healthy and Ottawa coming in hot, Vokoun’s third playoff start with the Pens will be a big one, as the Pens get set to take on the Senators for the fourth time in seven playoff years.

Pens-Sens Regular Season Series Recap: Pens Win 3 Games to None

January 27. Penguins 2, Senators 1 (SO)
February 13. Penguins 4, Senators 2
April 22. Penguins 3, Senators 1

Pittsburgh took their season series with the Senators by a three-games-to-none score, with Ottawa earning a point only in their shootout loss in late January. In total, the Pens outscored the Senators 8-4.

James Neal paced all scorers in the series, potting three goals in two games against Ottawa.

Through one round of the postseason, Pittsburgh’s big salaries are putting up big points while Ottawa’s win-by-committee group of grinders is being led by a few names that are perhaps surprises only to those outside Ottawa.

Evgeni Malkin is second in playoff scoring with 11 points, potting two goals and nine assists in the Islanders series. Sidney Crosby (3G, 6A) has 9 in five games, while trade deadline acquisition Jarome Iginla potted two goals and seven helpers in six games against the Isles. As always, Pascal Dupuis is right in the mix, leading the Pens with five goals in keeping with his status as the most criminally underpaid performers in the NHL.

For Ottawa, rookie and Ottawa native Jean-Gabriel Pageau provided the theatrics with a hat trick in a heated match with Montreal in the Quarterfinals. His three goals in that game were enough to lead the team after five contests in the first round, while Erik Karlsson’s five assists and six points are both tops on what was one of the lowest-scoring teams in the regular season.

The big battle is in net, where Tomas Vokoun (2-0, 1.41 | .957) has played large in Marc-Andre Fleury’s stead. Vokoun settled the Pens in Game 5, earning a shutout before making a series of key saves in Game 6, which clinched the series for the Pens despite New York’s superior play.

In Ottawa, success begins and ends with Craig Anderson, who had a Vezina Trophy season cut short by injury. Nonetheless, Anderson is back in form, going 4-1 against Montreal with a gaudy .950 save percentage and 1.80 goals against average.

Pre-Game Audio

Dan Bylsma
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514BylsmaPre.mp3

Sidney Crosby
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514CrosbyPre.mp3

Tomas Vokoun
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514VokounPre.mp3

Kris Letang
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514LetangPre.mp3

Matt Cooke
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514CookePre.mp3

Matt Niskanen
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514NiskanenPre.mp3

 James Neal
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514NealPre.mp3

Paul MacLean
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130514MacLeanPre.mp3

Tyler Kennedy and Joe Vitale, Game 5 additions to the line-up, will start against Ottawa. Vitale and Kennedy provided terribly-needed offensive pressure and energy, while Kennedy, much-bemoaned whipping boy for the regular season, scored the game-winner in Game 5 and assisted on Brooks Orpik’s GWG in overtime in Game 6.

Deryk Engelland also looks set to get back into the line-up on a pairing with Douglas Murray, one that should be as easy to skate around as it is difficult to skate through.

Pittsburgh hasn’t dropped a postseason series to the Senators since the Sens were overwhelming Cup favorites and the Pens were a patchwork team full of upstarts. The roles haven’t perfectly reversed, but it’s a much different series than any the teams have played in their brief playoff history.

@SlewFooters

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Of course, the postseason is all about individual match-ups. Pittsburgh won all three meetings with the Senators this season, holding the low-scoring Sens to just four goals in those three contests.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, potted 8 goals in their wins (shootout winner not counted), a 2.67 goals per game average that was well below their season average of 3.4 goals per game but good enough to top the Sens in each contest.

January 27. Penguins 2, Senators 1 (SO)

Pittsburgh traveled to Ottawa early in the season with an up-and-down record. They had failed to put together good defensive games against the Islanders and Maple Leafs, and Dan Bylsma’s defensive plans were in question.

It would become a theme in their season series, but Pittsburgh held Ottawa to just one goal in that late January match, and the defensive effort was important for a team that at times had struggled to contain anyone.

James Neal and Colin Greening had the only 65-minute goals of the game, but Neal, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each beat Craig Anderson in the shootout, giving the Pens the extra point.

Special teams were no help in the game, for either club. Pittsburgh went 0-for-5 on the man-advantage, Ottawa 0-for-2. The clubs finished nearly tied in shots (34-32 Pittsburgh), hits (35-33 Ottawa) and faceoffs won (37-32 Pittsburgh). The difference in this one was the shootout, where Pittsburgh trotted out three left-handed 40-goal scorers to face Anderson, who typically struggles more with southpaw shooters.

February 13. Penguins 4, Senators 2

The skate that launched a thousand forensic investigations. James Neal potted two goals and the Penguins put away the Senators for the second time in as many meetings, but the narrative that came out of this one was Matt Cooke intentionally giving Erik Karlsson a sure-thing, can’t-miss, season-ending Achilles tendon injury that didn’t end his season.

Cooke got his foot up on Karlsson as the two went to the boards in what TSN’s Aaron Ward called a routine “hit and pin” maneuver, and the blade partially severed Karlsson’s Achilles.

To the untrained eye, the hit looked accidental. Expert eyes saw the same thing. Nonetheless, Ottawa players, management, ownership and all strata of the Ottawa sports media plucked the low-hanging fruit that is the “Matt Cooke can’t change” narrative, effectively launching The Cooke Commission — Senators owner Eugene Melnyk actually ordered an in-house investigation meant to show that Cooke intended to cut Karlsson on the play.

The hockey world still awaits the Commission’s findings with baited breath.

April 22. Penguins 3, Senators 1

The Matt Cooke Hatefest lived up to its stupid billing — Ottawa chased Cooke around the ice for stretches of the game, while Pittsburgh, missing a number of its stars and with skilled upstart Steve MacIntyre cutting his teeth at the NHL level, lopped two more points off the Senators and swept the season series.

Dustin Jeffrey, Jarome Iginla and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Pens, while Ottawa’s Patrick Wiercioch scored at 7:18 of the third to disrupt Tomas Vokoun’s shutout bid.

The heated rematch ended with only one fight, one misconduct (to MacIntyre, of course) and 54 penalty minutes.

@SlewFooters

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After a perfect round of forecasting the Pens-Isles series, we’re back to take another expert look at the Pens’ second-round match-up against the Ottawa Senators.

This series promises no end of extracurricular fun in addition to what should be some really good hockey. So while Dan Bylsma and the boys try to figure out just what happened to that milk-carton defense and Eugene Melnyk chases down Matt Cooke with a subpoena, we’ll take a quick look at the Pens-Sens Semifinals series.

As always, the panel is James Conley (Guy at Slew Footers, Editor at Pensburgh & Writer with Yahoo! Contributor Network), Brian Zagorac (Pittsburgh Penguins Youth and Amateur Hockey Development Intern) and Evan Mulgrave (Once Bowled a 183, Generous Lover).

Sorry in advance.

The Pens were supposed to mop up the Islanders in the first round after finishing the season with the East’s first seed and a 4-1 head-to-head record against the Isles in the regular season. That didn’t happen. Pittsburgh swept Ottawa 3-0 this year. Does that mean they’ve got the upper hand, or can Ottawa pull an Islanders and make the favorited Pens look foolish?

Zagorac: Senators are going to bring it just like the Isles. There are no sure things in the NHL playoffs (see Ducks, Anaheim). The Sens are a pesky team with a sneaky amount of talent. They can’t skate like the Islanders but they will be just as tough an out.

Conley: Since the Flyers picked the Pens apart last year before being dumped in five by New Jersey in the next round, I’ve been more of a believer in match-ups coming down to game plans and personnel. New York’s speed was an obvious match-up advantage for New York, and they exploited it to the point that they were the better team for more of the series. Pittsburgh and Ottawa match up fairly similarly. Their forwards are good, but not as fast as New York. I don’t see the Pens’ defense getting exploited so regularly once again. But Craig Anderson can single-handedly steal a series like no one on the Islanders roster could. On a point-by-point basis, I like Pittsburgh’s roster over Ottawa’s.

Mulgrave: There are more important things than hockey. If you read our first batch of prediction, then you know we were all wrong, and that my uncle was in a bad way after being shot by my neighbor for squatting in his shed. Well, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you my uncle did not make it. A man has died. Not necessarily a man that deserved your respect, but a man nonetheless. RIP Uncle “Drunkle” Daniel.

Lemme bring you up to speed. Me and my other two uncles are now wards of the state, after the police found us trying to drag Daniel to the hospital. They put my uncles up in a local YMCA, but because of a typo on my birth certificate I am currently at a local YWCA. They discovered their error pretty quickly, so they set me up in a janitor’s closet, away from the other women. There’s another cot in here though. I guess the janitor lives in here too?

Anyway, as for the question, no.

As of Monday, Dan Bylsma won’t name his starter (it’s Tuesday now, and he has) ahead of Game 1. No matter who it is (it’s Vokoun), and how they perform in the game that follows, the question of who gets the start will almost certainly precede every game. So who do you see starting, and who deserves it?

Zagorac: Vokoun. And Vokoun. Ride the hot hand.

Conley: Vokoun deserves every start from here on out, though I don’t think he’ll get them all. I’d really, really love to see Fleury come back at some point and string a few strong games together, but in the interest of not ever doing what Vancouver has done with their goaltenders, he needs to sit. I don’t think Fleury starts again barring injury to Vokoun or back-to-back games.

Mulgrave: Fleury gets the start and should. He is your franchise goaltender, you have to give him a chance to regain his confidence. Put him on a short leash, but he has to be between the pipes Game 1. In the long run he is your best chance to win, and by not starting him you risk having a Vancouver-like debacle on your hands. The Canucks, when faced with a similar dilemma, went with their backup and transformed Bob Luongo from a perennial Vezina contender to a shell of a man who wanders around the training room muttering, “I was beautiful once” under his breath.

Similar story: JV baseball, Junior year. First game of sections I give up a Jose Canseco-style home run off of my forehead while playing right field. Coach could have pulled me right there, but he didn’t. I went on to give up three more home runs that way, a WPIAL record, and suffered irreversible brain damage.

Pittsburgh scored 25 goals in six games against the Islanders while Ottawa allowed just 9 in five contests with Montreal. Unstoppable Something versus Immoveable Whatevers. Who’s winning this match-up?

Zagorac: Pittsburgh. There is just too much talent on the Penguins bench. Erik Karlsson and the great Sergei Gonchar aren’t exactly shutdown defensemen. Look for Pittsburgh to take advantage of the physical play when those two are on the ice.

Conley: A little bit of both? Even if the Pens regress to their regular-season scoring pace of 3.38 (!) goals per game, they’ll still be tagging the Senators for a lot more than they’re accustomed to. I see at least one game of the Pens scoring five or more goals, and at least one game in which Anderson does 2010 Jaro Halak things. If Ottawa gets into penalty trouble, forget about everything.

Mulgrave: I set my Gatorade down in here, but this janitor keeps all his cleaning supplies in Gatorade bottles. Who does that? I can’t tell if this is Arctic Blast or Windex… Oh well here goes nothing, lol.

I don’t care how good the Senators play defense, they’re are still going to get three goals a game dumped on them and I don’t see them putting up four every game. The only chance they have of winning is resorting to the goonery and buffoonery they employed in the Canadiens series, which is still a very legitimate threat to the Penguins given past experience. I still take the Pens offense.

We all know about the Matt Cooke thing, re: insane people in Ottawa. Are the Senators going to have his number circled? How should the Pens respond to any liberties taken with 24?

Zagorac: There won’t be a bounty on Cooke. There is too much on the line for Ottawa. They have great leadership in Gonchar and Alfredsson. They will be physical and it will stir the pot. But the Cooke story will only matter to the Ottawa media.

Conley: I don’t think so. My worry isn’t that they’ll run at Cooke, but players like Letang, Malkin and Neal. Those guys might be good for a combined 10-12 minors in a playoff series if Ottawa toes the line just right.

Mulgrave: They are absolutely going to go after Matt Cooke. Bryan Murray is still incensed , especially after hiring Gil Grissum to investigate the case, only to find out he was a fictional character from the show CSI, then hiring Gus Grissom, only to find out he was an astronaut that died of fifty years ago, then hiring an attorney after finding his wife was now sleeping at her mothers house. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Senators take the ice wearing skates that look like they came from the same factory that makes Gillette Mach 5 razors.

All the Pens have to do is keep scoring, and don’t engage. Unless Doug Murray’s soul quota is running low, in which case, let him feed.

Evgeni Nabokov just had one of the worst playoffs a goaltender not named Marc-Andre Fleury or Ilya Bryzgalov can have. Craig Anderson would have run away with the Vezina had Matt Cooke not tied his shoelaces together when he wasnt looking and then put banana peels all over his house had he not been injured for much of the season. He’s healthy and playing well now. Is there any chance the Pens can get to him?

Zagorac: We’ve already been over this. Everybody’s already skipped to Mulgrave’s part anyways.

Conley: I think the power play is the place to make hay. Ottawa’s 88 percent penalty kill led the NHL in the regular season. Pittsburgh led the NHL on the PK in 2011, and then fell to below 75 percent against the Lightning. Pittsburgh has too much talent to let Ottawa dictate their man-advantages. Those are the times they’ll get to Anderson.

Mulgrave: Both these Gatorade jugs taste so good, the only way I can tell the difference is if I pour it in my eyes.

Anderson’s good, but he’s not Highlander/immortal good and he’s going to have to be. He is going to be under more pressure than Louie Anderson’s lawn chair, and much like the lawn chair, he will break.

What’s the single-biggest concern for Pittsburgh in this series?

Zagorac: Special teams. The Sens’ PK was one of the best during the regular season. Pittsburgh’s power play was a stabilizing force in the first round. It’ll be interesting to see how Bylsma reacts if the power play falters initially.

Conley: Chaos. Pittsburgh hasn’t put together a consistent playoff effort since the year they won the Cup. When things go bad, they tend to go hellishly bad. Ottawa is going to carry the play at times and Anderson will be unbeatable at others. Pittsburgh needs to weather those storms (like they did in games against Boston and New York in the regular season) and keep things in order.

Mulgrave: My only concern is them trying to slug it out with the Senators, and this volleyball tournament I’m in here at the Y. Sure they are all women, but some of them seem very angry.

Do you see anything in the Ottawa line-up or game plan that suggests a match-up problem for the Pens? The Flyers did it on special teams, the Islanders with speed at forward. Does Ottawa have a similar wrinkle that they can build a game plan around?

Zagorac: I guess.

Conley: Rope-a-dope. Anderson could easily play as well as Halak did in the 2010 Semifinals, and Ottawa has enough firepower to grind out the offense they need. Even though Pittsburgh needs to play a more structurally sound game (and manage the goddamn puck) they can’t let the Senators make it a defensive-minded trap battle.

Mulgrave: None whatsoever. The Senators just aren’t built to beat the Pens in a seven game series, and just like my dad used to say, “Evan, you weren’t built for this world.” Just as I can’t seem to get a foothold in this crazy, mixed-up place, nor will the Senators in this series.

Who do you like for the last defense spot? Can Mark Eaton round back into form against Ottawa, who are slower than the islanders up and down their lineup? Perhaps Deryk Engelland? Or do you stick with Simon Despres?

Zagorac: Eaton or Engelland. Ottawa isn’t as fast a team as the Islanders, but they are more physical and more skilled. Eaton’s good stick will be needed but also Engelland’s physicality.

Conley: Despres really acquitted himself nicely in Games 5 and 6 against the Islanders. I don’t like Engelland on a pairing with Murray. Bortuzzo is dusting at this point. I think Eaton could be good against the Senators. They can skate, but just not like the Islanders did. His shot-blocking and veteran calm could be more important in this series than Despres’ versatility.

Mulgrave: Eaton works, sure. Like I said it’s not going to matter. Guins Win.

What terrible distraction will emerge from this series?

Zagorac: Whatever Evan Mulgrave types in the space below this.

Conley: Ottawa already did one of these, and last season the Pens got involved in this. If the series gets lopsided or a single game gets particularly lopsided, I can see a line brawl shaking out.

Mulgrave: Ottawa is going to show their ass so hard when they lose. Their display of composure up until this point has been bad, but when they get trounced by the Penguins it’s going to look about as pathetic as your ex-girlfriends Facebook Inbox. I imagine by Game 3 Bryan Murray is behind the Penguins’ bench in a full Witch Doctor Shaman outfit, trying to conjure the long dead spirit of his dignity.

Series Prediction

Zagorac: Pens in 6.

Conley: Pittsburgh got outplayed for two-thirds of the Islanders series but won two-thirds of their games. They have the kind of skill players who only need a handful of chances to bury you. But the Islanders had Evgeni Nabokov. Ottawa does not. Senators in 7

Mulgrave: Pens in 5. Senators steal a game, I steal things out of the other women’s lockers and when the Pens win they win big.

Wild Card Predictions

Zagorac: Vokoun falters in Ottawa, 29 saves the day.

Conley: Spezza makes a late push to get back into the line-up and the Pens’ penalty kill (90 percent vs the Islanders) collapses like it always does.

Mulgrave: After taking a 3-0 lead in the series, Bylsma activates Iceberg, the Penguins Mascot, as the right winger for the third line. After a devastating Scott Stevens-esque hit delivered by Chris Neil, Iceberg is in a coma. The Penguins rally behind their fallen mascot and carry that momentum to a Cup win. The Penguins remove the Mario Lemieux statue this fall and replace it with one immortalizing the brutal concussion of their beloved mascot.

@SlewFooters

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The NHL awards the Masterton annually to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Crosby, for his part, put together another truncated MVP season in 2013 after missing significant parts of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, leading the league with 56 points in 36 games before an errant slap shot cracked his jaw and left him sidelined for the final 12 games of 2013.

His 56 points held up (despite having missed 25 percent of the season), as he finished third in the NHL scoring race, a points total that wasn’t overtaken until the final week of the regular season.

From the NHL,

Crosby, 25, missed most of the previous two seasons dealing with concussion issues, and then the first half of the 2012-13 season — along with the rest of the League — during the lockout. Questions were asked if Crosby ever could be the same player he was prior to his injuries. Instead, he returned better than ever this season.

Crosby entered with a career average of 1.40 points per game, but in 2012-13 he had 56 points in 36 games, an average of 1.55. He also played every game for the Penguins until sustaining a broken jaw March 30 that ended his regular season. Despite sitting out the final month, he remained the League’s leading scorer until the final week of the season, and he finished tied for third. Crosby also continued to evolve his game, posting a career-best plus-26 rating. He is a finalist for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award as well.

Crosby was nominated for the Masterton alongside Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid (who also won’t win) and Minnesota goaltender Josh Harding, who will win the award after returning to the league despite an offseason diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Crosby has already been named a finalist for the Hart Trophy (league MVP) and Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as voted on by players) for the 2013 season.

Fellow Penguin Kris Letang is up for the Norris Trophy, and GM Ray Shero is up for GM of the Year.

@SlewFooters

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The Pens and Sens face each other for the fourth time in seven postseasons, though Tuesday’s Game 1 will mark the first time the clubs have met beyond the first round.

Via the Pens team website, here is the second-round schedule.

GAME 1: Tuesday, May 14 | 7:30 PM | NBCSN | CONSOL Energy Center
GAME 2: Friday, May 17 | 7:30 PM | NBCSN | CONSOL Energy Center
GAME 3: Sunday, May 19 | 7:30 PM | NBCSN | Scotiabank Place
GAME 4: Wednesday, May 22 | 7:30 PM | NBCSN | Scotiabank Place
GAME 5*: Friday, May 24 | 7:30 PM | NBCSN | CONSOL Energy Center
GAME 6*: Sunday, May 26 | Scotiabank Place | Time, Network TBA
GAME 7*: Tuesday, May 28 | CONSOL Energy Center | Time, Network TBA

*if necessary

Pittsburgh will have home-ice advantage all the way up to a Stanley Cup Finals date with any team not named the Chicago Blackhawks. The Pens went 2-1 on home ice in their first-round match with the New York Islanders, and 3-0-0 overall against the Senators during the regular season.

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In the midst of squeaking their way past the New York Islanders and into the second round of the playoffs, Kris Letang was nominated for the Norris Trophy and Ray Shero tagged as one of three candidates for GM of the Year, while Sidney Crosby earned finalist status for the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy.

It was all part of a great (if truncated) season that saw the Pens finish first in the Eastern Conference and second only to the Blackhawks in the NHL.

Shero’s nomination for GM of the Year comes in his seventh season as Pens’ GM, during which time he’s overseen two Cup finalists and authored seven-straight postseason qualifiers.

From NHL.com,

Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens, Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ray Shero on Monday were named the finalists for the 2013 NHL General Manager of the Year Award.

The award is voted on by the 30 NHL GMs and a panel of NHL executives and members of the print and broadcast media.

…

Shero made the seventh season of his tenure in Pittsburgh an active one. Unable to sign Jordan Staal, he traded the third-line center to the Carolina Hurricanes for his replacement, the solid Brandon Sutter, and also acquired backup goalie Tomas Vokoun. And then at the NHL Trade Deadline, he acquired forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen and defensemanDouglas Murray without surrendering a player off his current roster. Despite sustaining injuries to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the Penguins never stumbled and finished atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Crosby played just 36 games in the regular season, three-fourths of the compressed schedule. It was time enough for him to earn 56 points and nods for the Ted Lindsay Award (MVP as voted on by fellow NHL players) and the Hart Trophy, MVP as voted on by credited members of the hockey press.

On the Lindsay, from the NHL,

Crosby, Ovechkin and St. Louis have all previously won the award, which is voted on by the players themselves. This year’s winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup final.

Crosby, from Cole Harbour, N.S., had 56 points (15 goals, 41 assists) in 36 games this past season. He was tied for third in the league in points, second in assists and first in points per game (1.56).

And the Hart, via NHL,

Crosby, who won the Hart in 2007, finished tied for third in the League with 56 points despite sitting out the final month of the regular season with a broken jaw. He still managed to hold the lead in the League scoring race until the final week of the season, and his 1.56 points per game led the League. He had 15 goals and a career-best plus-26 rating. His strong play helped the Penguins win the Atlantic Division title for the first time since the 2007-08 season and earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s definitely an honor any time you get nominated for an award, especially in a season when you’re coming off some injuries,” Crosby said. “It was a long couple years there with missing games, so it definitely feels good.”

Crosby previously won the Hart in 2007, and fellow Penguin Evgeni Malkin won MVP honors last season. It would be Crosby’s second MVP nod and the 7th in Penguins history. Mario Lemieux leads with three, while Malkin, Crosby and Jaromir Jagr have each won the award once. Shero is up for his first GMOTY nod, while Letang could become the second Norris winner in Penguins history.

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All’s well that ends well in overtime. On to the second round for the Penguins, who will take on the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The post That’s All, Folks. Penguins 4, Islanders 3. (Recap) appeared first on Slew Footers.

If it was the case a year ago against the Flyers and this season really is all about lessons learned, Bylsma, at least, has learned his. After a series of adjustments showed promise but failed to bear fruit in Game 4′s ugly 6-4 loss, Bylsma went all-in on changing his line-up and his gameplan — benching Tanner Glass for the first time all year, replacing struggling veteran Mark Eaton with rookie Simon Despres, sitting Jussi Jokinen for the first time since his acquisition and pulling the really big trigger of starting back-up goaltender Tomas Vokoun, the first time in 12 years and 80 postseason games that a goaltender not named Marc-Andre Fleury started for the Penguins.

It all paid off, as the Pens withstood a first-period barrage and broke down the dam in the second en route to a 4-0 win.

Mike Lange Highlights

http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/podcasts/130509hilites.mp3

It would turn out that the biggest move, perhaps bigger than naming Vokoun the starter, was giving the nod to season-long whipping boy Tyler Kennedy, whose speed disrupted the Islanders breakout and who broke the tension by scoring what would stand as the game-winning goal halfway through the second period.

“[The coaches] said just keep it simple and use your energy in the right ways, and keep it simple and finish my checks,” Kennedy said. ”I felt I wanted to come in and try to play well and try to create some energy for the guys.”

The moves worked in grand fashion, as Kennedy, Vokoun and Joe Vitale played with a purpose and a reworked top-six put a sting in the Islanders, giving the Pens a 3-2 lead in the opening series and retaking the look of a club that came into the postseason with genuine Cup expectations.

Kennedy’s goal midway through the second broke open a tense, tight-checking contest that was unlike any of the first four games of the series. Shortly thereafter, Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov biffed a weak wrist shot from the blue line, and the Pens took over from there.

Kennedy, Douglas Murray, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang scored for the Pens, giving them four goals for the fourth time in five games in the series.

Murray’s goal was his second of the series, and Letang’s gave the Pens a power play goal in four of the five meetings. Crosby’s, however, was indicative of a turning point in the series.

Shortly before Sid’s marker, John Tavares freak-deked Paul Martin out of his skates on a one-on-one rush, putting the puck under Martin’s flailing stick three times before ripping a shot on goal. Vokoun, in untypically-Pens playoff fashion, made a save on a great scoring chance. The save would prove huge, keeping the Pens’ two-goal lead in tact. A few moments later, Crosby, who had been mostly contained up to that point, took a pass in the neutral zone from new linemate Jarome Iginla.

He then proceeded to do Sidney Crosby things.

Crosby’s goal drew immediate comparisons to Mario Lemieux’s immortalized goal against the Islanders, one captured in bronze just outside CONSOL Energy Center. Crosby’s goal decidedly put the series momentum back in the Penguins’ hands, as the Islanders failed to generate a whiff of the searing attack they generated in Games 2, 3 and 4 following Crosby’s marker.

The Pens captain now has 8 points in four games since returning to play in Game 2.

While the Pens finally took control in the second, it was Vokoun’s stellar play in the first that allowed the Pens to break things open in the first place.

Vokoun, starting his first playoff game in six years, posted a shutout in his return, stopping all 31 Islanders shots he faced, including 14 in the first period. Vokoun is now 4-0-0 against the Islanders this year, having allowed just three goals in those four contests with two shutouts.

It’s almost impossible to imagine that Vokoun won’t get the call in Game 6.

Pittsburgh made all the right moves in Game 5, inserting speed into the line-up where they had none and getting the big-game start out of Vokoun that they envisioned when they traded for him almost a year ago.

The Pens will look to carry the momentum into Game 6, Saturday evening on Long Island.

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Good thing. It hasn’t had an empty seat yet.

In fact, the Pens haven’t had an empty seat in any home game since February 14, 2007 — Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal’s rookie years. With that sellout streak spanning parts of seven seasons and set to touch 281 straight contests with Thursday’s pivotal Game 5 match against the New York Islanders, a lot of money has changed hands in and around Pittsburgh’s newest sports complex in the last seven years.

Up to $3.2 million per game, for these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In an interview with Pittsburgh Business Times, VisitPittsburgh CEO Craig Davis estimated that each Penguins home game in the 2013 playoffs could generate as much as $3.2 million for the local economy.

That’s just shy of $13 million for a seven-game playoff series that sees four home dates played in Pittsburgh.

From the Business-Times,

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed a clean sweep of the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup quarterfinals with last Friday’s loss on home ice, but Pittsburgh will realize economic impact of about $3.2 million with Thursday’s game from a combination of ticket sales, hotel rooms, meals and ancillary spending.

…

Because much of the regular season was iced when the NHL owners and players union couldn’t come to terms, the city lost around $40 million in related spending, VisitPittsburgh estimated. But fan frustration didn’t result in a backlash against the team or the sport, Davis believes.

The best possible scenario for the Pittsburgh economy — four straight playoff rounds that see the Pens play four games per series — may not be the best scenario for the Pens, and certainly not their fans, whose sanity would be at stake.

However, after a damaging lockout in which the city was robbed of tens of millions in local revenue, the Pens have a chance to recoup some of that lost spending with a deep playoff run.

That would be good news for the people of Pittsburgh, who helped support construction of the arena through municipal tax funding and who continue to support the arena by filling it for every Pens home game.

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It’s all part of a roster shake-up that Penguins coach Dan Bylsma hopes will allow his team to keep pace with the New York Islanders, who have proven too fast for Pittsburgh’s sturdy-but-slow veterans to keep up with.

“For me, I’m going to enjoy it,” Vokoun said after Thursday’s morning skate. “I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get the chance to play again, in the playoffs, so it’s nice to have the chance.”

Forwards Joe Vitale and Tyler Kennedy may get their first call in this series after having been healthy scratches through four games, while defenseman Simon Despres could also be reinserted into the line-up. Those players are Pittsburgh’s best chance to keep up with the Islanders’ forecheck, which has proven overwhelmingly fast in the last three contests.

East Quarterfinals Series (Tied 2-2)

Game 1: Penguins 5, Islanders 0
Game 2: Islanders 4, Penguins 3
Game 3: Penguins 5, Islanders 4 (OT)
Game 4: Islanders 6, Penguins 4

The big story in Game 5 will be Vokoun. GM Ray Shero traded for Vokoun’s rights early last summer and signed him to a two-year contract extension before he could board the plane from DC to Pittsburgh, hoping to buffer against another playoff meltdown like the one suffered by Fleury and the Pens last Spring.

Vokoun hasn’t started since April 22 and hasn’t started a postseason game since the Crosby-era Penguins were making their maiden playoff voyage, but is looking forward to the start in Game 5 — even with the pressure-cooker circumstances surrounding it.

“You play hockey to be in this moment,” Vokoun said. “You don’t play hockey to go for morning skates, and take shots and do that.”

While its still a tie ball game, the unthinkable — that the Islanders could replicate the Flyers’ success and pitch the Pens’ regular-season success into utter chaos — appears to be taking hold once again. The Pens are facing a fast team with a better game plan, and they’ve proven nothing if not susceptible to the right system and a familiar opponent.

Pittsburgh has allowed 14 goals in three games following Game 1′s shutout win, and Vokoun’s start is expected to bring a measure of calm — if not accountability — back to the lineup.

Almost no one on the Pens roster can escape blame for the suddenly-tied series. Even star centers Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, both of whom are near the top of the playoff scoring race, have been guilty of costly turnovers and otherwise sloppy play.

It was Vokoun (3-0-0, .970 save percentage vs Islanders in 2013) who shook the cobwebs out of the team’s collective head in early March, when the Pens were winning high-scoring affairs but leaving their goalies out to dry. After his locker-room speech on accountability, the Pens went on a stellar defensive run, in part leading to the first perfect calendar month in NHL history (15-0-0 in March) and a stretch of 9 goals allowed in 11 games.

Three of those 15 March victories came against the Islanders and the Pens won four straight over the Isle to close out their season-series by a 4-1 margin, but all that went into those games seems now to have gone out the window.

Pre-Game Audio

Dan Bylsma
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509BylsmaPre.mp3

Sidney Crosby
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509CrosbyPre.mp3

Tomas Vokoun
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509VokounPre.mp3

Tyler Kennedy
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509KennedyPre.mp3

Joe Vitale
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509VitalePre.mp3

Marc-Andre Fleury
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509FleuryPre.mp3

Jack Capuano
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130509CapuanoPre.mp3

New York is being led by surprise performances from Kyle Okposo (3 goals) and Mark Streit (5 points), as well as strong defensive play from third-year blue liner Travis Hamonic. Frans Nielsen, Casey Cizikas and Brian Strait have also had strong series’ for the Isles, who entered the Quarterfinals thought to be a one-line team without the depth to match Pittsburgh’s attack.

Instead, its been the Pens who’ve been on the run, chasing the Islanders around the defensive zone while generating almost no forecheck to speak of. Outside of Craig Adams, each of the Pens’ bottom-six forwards have been disappointing in the series.

It’ll take a 200-foot effort from the team’s 18 skaters to contain the Islanders and take the game back from them, but Pittsburgh has the horses to get it done. Perhaps having confidence back in the blue paint will make the task easier.

Given the team’s trade deadline splurge and the pending contract chaos that will come this summer, there’s plenty of reason to be nervous.

“Everybody is nervous,” Vokoun said. “You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t.

“But I’ve played long enough and I’ve been through a lot, so hopefully that’s going to help carry me through it.”

Audio courtesy Jason Seidling & Pittsburgh Penguins

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It didn’t matter.

In three out of four games (that feel like 400) in this series so far, the Islanders have decidedly outplayed the Penguins. The teams split Games 2 and 3 despite a heavy shots-on-goal advantage for the Isles. As their shots crept up, so did ghosts of playoffs past. Marc-Andre Fleury was tagged for four goals in consecutive contests after posting a shutout in Game 1. The blame wasn’t all his. The Isles racked up 78 shots in just those two games. Eight goals allowed was as much a product of the Isles’ improved play as any lingering deficiencies on Fleury’s part.

That all went out the window in Game 4, when the Isles tagged the Pens for six goals on just 24 shots. The Pens have held the Isles to 24 shots in three of their nine meetings this season, the fewest they’ve allowed in any game against the Isles in 2013.

While the Pens continued to make back-breaking turnovers in Game 4, Fleury let up a number of soft goals once again. Dan Bylsma’s announcement that Tomas Vokoun will start in Game 5 should make for a merciful respite for the Pens’ embattled starter.

In the meantime, Pittsburgh needs to remember how to outplay an opponent.

New York’s vicious forecheck set the Pens back on their heels again, erasing a third-period deficit in short order and uprooting a “complete” roster that saw the healthy returns of James Neal and Brooks Orpik. The Isles scored five of their goals at even-strength, getting the markers from Brian Strait, Mark Streit (2), Kyle Okposo, John Tavares and Casey Cizikas.

Okposo’s behind-the-net job at the end of the second was inexcusable. Tavares got his second of the series and the game-winner on an unforgivable defensive-zone turnover by Evgeni Malkin, and Cizikas’ soft marker to close out the drubbing had every aesthetic of a goal that would get a franchise netminder pulled for a 36-year-old backup with 11 career playoff starts and none since the 2007 season.

In four games, Fleury finished with a 3.40/.891 line despite posting a shutout in Game 1. Game 4, which proved to be Fleury’s undoing, saw him post a .750 save percentage.

The quick announcement that Vokoun would be starting (made on the off-day, Wednesday) put to bed two days’ worth of speculation that would have only worsened the matter. Still, the Penguins are opting to go with their back-up goalie, who hasn’t started a game since April 22. That Fleury even got the hook in the first place is an admission that something has gone horribly wrong.

However, Vokoun was signed early last offseason to buffer just such another meltdown. To have sent Fleury out to the dogs once again would have undermined Vokoun’s acquisition and may have jeopardized the series even further.

Post-Game Audio

Dan Bylsma
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130507Bylsma.mp3

Sidney Crosby
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130507Crosby.mp3

Jarome Iginla
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130507Iginla.mp3

Matt Niskanen
http://downloads.penguins.nhl.com/audio/130507Niskanen.mp3

Incredibly, for all the drama the Pens have endured in net, its the Islanders whose goaltender is posting the worst numbers in the series.

Evgeni Nabokov has posted a monumental 4.56 GAA and paltry .846 save percentage in four games so far, allowing 16 goals in four games while having been pulled in Game 1′s blowout loss. His .846 save percentage currently stands as the worst in 8 career postseasons with at least four starts and ranks 17th out of 17 goalies to have made a start this postseason.

However, all eyes are on Pittsburgh, where bad playoff goaltending is old hat.

Goal scoring has been considerably easier for the Pens, who currently lead the playoff field with 17 goals scored. James Neal, Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis got on the board for the Pens in the loss, with Malkin and Jarome Iginla each having a two-point game.

For the first time in four games, the power play was held without a goal, going 0-for-2.

Pittsburgh was able to address issues with their breakout against the Islanders, but they still didn’t minimize their turnovers and the majority of the game was once again played in the defensive zone. They’ll try to clean up their game back in Pittsburgh, or risk facing down two elimination games versus a club that hasn’t reached the postseason in over half a decade.

Audio courtesy Jason Seidling & Pittsburgh Penguins

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