I hate going up against a losing streak. Before tonight's game I learned the Pens had beaten the Islanders 13-straight times at home. "Bad news," I immediately think. And, yes it was. The Islanders, with The Weak Law of Large Numbers (commonly called the "Law of Averages") in their favor defeated the Penguins 5-3 to snap their losing streak in Pittsburgh and keep the Penguins from taking over first place in the Eastern Conference. The Pens are still only one point behind the Rangers in the standings but the Blue Shirts now have a game in-hand over the Penguins. Therefore, the Ice Birds now need lots of help to win the Division and Conference.
James Neal scored two goals but the Penguins were down to their 9th and 10th defensemen (and it showed), Marc-Andre Fleury gave up 5 goals on 18 shots, Eyvgeni Nabokov played well in goal for the Islanders and that spelled doom for the home team.
Sidney Crosby was held scoreless after having put up 25 points in his last 9 games against the Islanders. The two fill-ins, Despres and Strait, were actually both "even" for the night but Martin and Engelland were both minus as were Dupuis, Neal, Park, Adams, Crosby and Malkin. Which is usually the way it is when you lose.
The Pens are going to have to patch up the defense quickly. After losing lopsidedly to Ottawa and the Islanders in the last three games the tough part of their final stretch starts with a rematch on the Island then on to Buffalo to play the red-hot Sabres. Unfortunately, defenseman Ben Lovejoy had surgery and will be out 3-4 weeks. So unless the Pens go deep into the playoffs Lovejoy has played his last game this season.
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