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Tim Benz: Penguins earn a point, but there's plenty to clean up before rematch with Islanders | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Tim Benz: Penguins earn a point, but there's plenty to clean up before rematch with Islanders

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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AP
Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith reacts Tuesday with teammates after giving up a goal to New York Islanders right wing Josh Bailey in the first period in Elmont, N.Y.

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, there were some things to like en route to grabbing a point on the road against the New York Islanders.

Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist.

Casey DeSmith made 33 saves, a number of them highlight-reel quality, including one in particular on Brock Nelson.

The Pens also managed to uncork 47 shots on Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, and they got the game to overtime despite losing Bryan Rust and Evan Rodrigues in-game due to symptoms of a non-covid illness.

Despite all that, the team did end up losing again. This time by a final score of 5-4 in a shootout. That’s eight defeats in 11 games for the Pens. And there were plenty of reasons why the Penguins left a point on the table on Long Island.

• First period special teams fiasco: The Penguins yielded a power play goal in the first period to Zach Parise.

The Penguins were 0 for 3 on power play opportunities of their own in the first 20 minutes. They also allowed a shorthanded goal to Parise.

Aside from that, the Penguins special teams got off to a wonderful start.

• Slappy shootout: The shootout was pretty ugly for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby and Guentzel walked in deep on Sorokin and shot pucks right into his glove. Then Kris Letang lost control of the puck on his attempt and completely duffed his try.

Kyle Palmieri was the only skater to score.

• Familiar foes: Palmieri hurting the Penguins is nothing new. He has 11 regular season goals against the Pens in his career, exceeded only by his 12 against the Flyers. That doesn’t include three in the postseason.

And Josh Bailey had a pair for the Islanders.

His 14 goals against the Pens are the most he has versus any opponent.

• Not so fine faceoffs: The Penguins lost 56.9% of the draws.

Crosby had an especially bad night, going 9 for 18 in the circle. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was dominant, winning 19 of 30 faceoffs.

The Islanders entered the game as the NHL’s 10th-best faceoff team at 51.3%. The Penguins weren’t far behind at 50.8% in 13th.

• Major misplays: The Penguins nearly scored on themselves in overtime on an errant pass as a power play was being called.

Teddy Blueger gave the puck to Bailey for his first goal. And Brian Dumoulin had a bad turnover on Bailey’s second, one of three giveaways on the night for the defenseman.

Crosby and Mike Matheson were also hit with three giveaways during the contest.

So, in other words, there’s a lot to get right between now and Thursday night when the teams rematch at PPG Paints Arena.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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