Game Recap: Pittsburgh Penguins 6, New York Islanders 3

What started off as a great back and forth hockey game between the Islanders and Penguins was unfortunately turned into a debacle following a terrible call by the referees, and the Islanders lost big at the Coliseum by a final score of 6-3.

Going 1-1-1 on a homestand is unacceptable following such great play on the road. Pittsburgh was without several key players tonight and the Islanders looked dominant for about 15 minutes, and that was about it. David Ullstrom got the scoring started in the first after a nice setup by Bailey, and Milan Jurcina had an insane slapper from the blue line that got the Isles up 2-0. The team was buzzing at this point, but things didn't last very long. Some subpar defense from Mark Streit (that lasted all night long) led to a Steve Sullivan goal and James Neal netted the game tying goal shortly afterwards. Shortly after the 3rd period began, a nice setup by Travis Hamonic and Michael Grabner led to Kyle Okposo with a spot on snipe right over Fleury's glove side to put the game at 3-2 Islanders.

It was shortly after this that an absolutely terrible call occurred which, in my opinion, cost the Islanders the game. The Islanders defense was already thin as it was, but Travis Hamonic was called for elbowing Brooks Orpik, and not only received a 5 minute major on top of a penalty that had already existed, but received a game misconduct, leaving the Islanders with a scary rotation of Mark Streit, Milan Jurcina, Steve Staios, Mike Mottau and Dylan Reese as their defense. Upon replay, it was clear that the hit was directly to the chest of Orpik, and that the blood that came about on Orpik's face was as a result of Orpik's own stick coming up and hitting him in the face. Pittsburgh, as one would assume, scored to tie the game on a rebound, although besides that the Islanders PKers were able to kill off the rest of the major. At that point, the game turned totally in favor of the Penguins, and they began to pile it on.

There is no doubt that Al Montoya was off his game tonight, but when you have such a thin and abysmal defense in front of you, there's only so much you can do. The Dupuis goal was undoubtedly a soft one, and the 5th and 6th goals were also saveable. This just wasn't Montoya's night, and I would assume he knows that.

It was just a bad game on all ends for the Islanders. A thin defense that was made into paper once Hamonic was forced out, a powerplay that looked like it couldn't score on an empty net, and a coach who looked as lifeless as ever.

The Islanders face off against the Montreal Canadiens on the road on Tuesday night at 7:30. Montreal has been less than stellar this year, and this is a game that almost absolutely must be won if the Islanders want to stay in the playoff race.