Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Penguins prevailed in their second of back-to-back games and without superstar center, Evgeni Malkin, to defeat the New York Islanders tonight by a score of 6-1.
The Penguins played a full, hard-fought 60 minutes giving a complete effort the entire game. Their first three goals were once again scored in the first period of the game. In fact, the game was very similar to last night’s game except for the fact that the Penguins rendered the Islanders defenseless after they scored their first goal in the second period. Pittsburgh dominated not only offensively, but defensively as well.
Once again the Penguins top line of Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis, dominated with both Kunitz and Dupuis scoring goals and all three earning points in the game. At this point in the season, the three players are the highest scoring line in the NHL and have a combined 37 goals and plus / minus of +40 (Crosby with 12G, +13; Dupuis with 11G, +9 and Kunitz with 14G, +18).
Malkin was kept out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury he suffered in Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when James van Riemsdyk hit him hard into the boards. He is to be out of the lineup for one to two weeks according to head coach Dan Bylsma.
The Penguins play the Boston Bruins next on Tuesday night at the CONSOL Energy Center. Puck is set to drop at 7:30 (est).
Stephanie Lewark is a featured Pittsburgh Penguins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her Facebook page, or add her to your Google+ circle.
