Entering this match-up, the Islanders were heavy underdogs against the Vegas Cup favorite. Minus Sidney Crosby, the deeper Pens showed why. They beat Evgeni Nabokov four times on 15 shots, chasing the veteran goalie in his 81st career postseason start.None of the goals were Nabokov’s fault. He was hung out to dry by an inexperienced team who are being baptized by fire. Pascal Dupuis scored twice and Kris Letang notched one of two power play goals. The Isles lost the special teams battle allowing two PPG’s on three chances while taking the collar in four. In order for them to compete, that can’t continue.

”I thought some guys worked hard and played a good game,” Jack Capuano said. ”Again, with our club we need all 20 guys going, and we didn’t have all 20.”

A loss of discipline led to the Pens’ first goal. Brian Strait reacted to a Matt Cooke check by taking an interference minor. The end result saw Beau Bennett finish off a Evgeni Malkin pass for his first goal in his postseason debut. Dan Bylsma opted to give the rookie the nod over vet Tyler Kennedy. That speaks to the kind of depth Pittsburgh has. Less than four minutes in, the Isles trailed. 

Dupuis increased the deficit to two when he was the recipient of a juicy rebound. Jarome Iginla put Craig Adams in. He forced Nabokov to make a tough save which leaked out to Dupuis, who beat two Islanders back for a backhand into an open side. Iginla’s assist was his first of the playoffs with the Penguins. He later set up their third goal.

The Islanders had an opportunity to get back in it. But with Cooke in the sin bin, they failed to take advantage. They couldn’t beat Marc-Andre Fleury, who was sharp stopping all 26 shots for his sixth career playoff shutout. When he needed to come up with the big save, he did. 

The Isles didn’t generate enough momentum, failing to establish a consistent fore check. Aside from that, their D was poor. Mark Streit had a miserable night. Following the power play failure late in the first, he was caught out of position by Brandon Sutter, who drew a hold with 44 seconds left. A Marty Reasoner trip on Malkin rewarded the Pens with a five-on-three. Letang connected just as it expired when his wicked wrister went upstairs short side on Nabokov putting the Pens up 3-0 at 1:19 of the second. They couldn’t stop the bleeding. Dupuis put home his second 32 seconds later with token resistance. Even Mark Eaton got a point in place of Brooks Orpik (lower body). 

“When you make it easy on them, they’re going to light you up,” Matt Martin expressed after registering a team high 10 hits while being caught out for two goals against. ”For most of the game we made it pretty easy on them, and if you do that they’re just going to run up the score on you.”

Adding insult to injury, Pens’ enforcer Tanner Glass got in on the act when he greeted Islander backup Kevin Poulin by surprising him from an angle. Jussi Jokinen got the lone helper. He also assisted on Dupuis’ second. Two of Pittsburgh’s deadline pick ups registered two points. Iginla and Jokinen each tallied a pair of helpers. It wasn’t all gravy for Pittsburgh, who lost James Neal to an undisclosed injury. He didn’t return for the third. Jokinen also left  following a knee on knee hit from Marty Reasoner. Bylsma didn’t have any updates on either’s availability for Game Two.

3rd Star-Marc-Andre Fleury, Pit (26 saves-6th career postseason shutout)

2nd Star-Kris Letang, Pit (1st of postseason, hit on Tavares, +2 in 26:20)

1st Star-Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh (2 goals, +2 in 15:26)