Tale of the Tape? Not Quite

Penguins 4: Islanders 3 (SO)

How many times can one write the same idea over and over without sounding redundant?

That is the question we, as bloggers, face now, as we have watched yet another two-goal lead slip out of the Islanders' fingers. The same mistakes have been made, and the same trends are displayed, prompting me to wonder what exactly is not getting through to the team.

This time, the Penguins were the beneficiaries of the Isles' errors, cutting a 3-1 lead down over a period and a half, outshooting them 18-1 in the third period, and capitalizing on a Petr Sykora shootout goal and a no-goal call on Trent Hunter's chance, which got buried in goalie Dany Sabourin's pads, to lift them to a 4-3 win that once again should have been a 3-1, or maybe even 4-1, Isles win.

Once more, the goals didn't matter. Neither Tim Jackman's first of the year (this after just being called up from Bridgeport with Nate Thompson injured), nor Doug Weight's change-up from the left side, nor even Andy Hilbert's pretty little backhand shovel past Sabourin, could help. In the end, it was the defense's job to ensure this lead would not slip away- and unfortunately, all of the aggression they needed to display was not there, and so Tyler Kennedy scored twice, and Jordan Staal once, to tie it up, all at the expense of Joey MacDonald (29 saves), seemingly the only one who knew what he was doing out on the ice in the third period.

Not much more can be said, other than the fact that these Islanders have had four games now that they could have won handily- one against Montreal (lost), one against Columbus (won the hard way in OT), one against Atlanta (lost), and now this one against Pittsburgh, in which they only salvage a point. And even if the refs are to blame to a point, it is the Islanders who should be looking within themselves for answers; if they had taken care of business in the first place, the shootout never would have been needed.