Penguins 5, Islanders 0: Pascal Dupuis scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded after struggling in last year’s playoffs to turn aside 26 shots as host Pittsburgh breezed to victory in Game 1 of its Eastern Conference first-round series with eighth-seeded New York.
Rookie Beau Bennett and defenseman Kris Letang each scored a power-play goal, Tanner Glass also tallied and Jarome Iginla notched a pair of assists while playing in his first postseason game since 2009. The top-seeded Penguins didn’t miss a beat without captain Sidney Crosby, who did not receive medical clearance prior to the contest – and is questionable for Friday’s Game 2 in Pittsburgh.
Staked to an offensive explosion, Fleury coasted in his first playoff appearance since being torched for 26 goals in six games during last year’s first-round loss to Philadelphia. He tied Tom Barrasso’s franchise record with his sixth postseason shutout.
Bennett opened the scoring at 3:30 of the first period after his sharp-angle shot from the lower edge of the right faceoff circle sailed under the crossbar. Dupuis tallied nearly 10 minutes later after cleaning up a failed bid by Iginla in the high slot before depositing the puck past Evgeni Nabokov (11 saves).
Letang scored from the left circle at 1:19 of the second and Nabokov was replaced by Kevin Poulin (10 saves) 32 seconds later after Dupuis netted his 14th career postseason goal with a backhander in the slot.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Nabokov received a rude awakening three minutes into the contest after taking a slap shot off his mask from Iginla. The veteran goaltender slumped to the ice for a few moments, but stayed in the game. … Crosby has been sidelined since March 30 after a deflected shot resulted in a broken jaw. … Penguins LW James Neal exited the contest with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of shifts in the second period. He did not return. … Eleven of New York’s 18 skaters were playing in their first playoff contest. … The Islanders were making their first postseason appearance since 2007.
