Pens Beat Islanders It OT For First Win At The Bird House

We all knew the Penguins would win a game at the CONSOL Energy Center.

Someday.

No moment like the present, though, and Pittsburgh finally broke through for their first 2 points on home ice last night when defenseman Alex Goligoski scored on a 4-on-3 power play just under 2 minutes into overtime to beat the New York Islanders., 3-2.

All I can say is --- IT'S ABOUT TIME!

And not just for the Penguins to win a game in The Bird House.

But also for the man-advantage -- which has looked only like a man DISadvantage since the beginning of the season -- to FINALLY come through for the Pens.

After going a miserable 0-for-7 during the first 3 periods and continuing to pass up opportunity after opportunity, it delivered when the team needed it most.

After losing the first three games on home ice -- all by one goal -- how bad would it have felt to lose last night's game against a team that hasn't won in Pittsburgh since 2007?  Sure, those games were across the street, but after building a 2-0 lead in the second period on the strength of goals from forwards Mike Rupp and Eric Tangradi, (the latter's first in the National Hockey League, by the way)  it would have been a disaster had they come from ahead to drop last night's contest.

But the Penguins' best players so far this year saved them, to wit:

Goligoski, who now has 3 goals (most in the league among blueliners) and 5 points (second) to lead the team in scoring at this early stage;

Mark Letestu, who assisted on both Penguins' goals last night, and now has 4 points to lead the team among forwards -- which is more than a couple guys getting paid $8.7 million dollars a season to do that, by the way;

Brent Johnson, the only goaltender to win a game for Pittsburgh this year, who again was strong in stopping 22 of 24 shots --- and who may just get the call again in the pipes tonight when the Penguins visit Philadelphia to face-off against the arch-rival Flyers (6:00 PM EST)

One other thing of note about the game.  The Penguins held firm defensively despite playing with only 5 rearguards for more than half of it after defenseman Kris Letang got tossed from the game on an absurd 5-minute major penalty and game misconduct for an open-ice, shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Islanders forward Blake Comeau.

As we all probably know, the league has instituted automatic 5-minute major and game misconduct penalties to anyone who targets the head of another player with a hit from behind or from the side when they're defenseless, but this hit was nothing like that, and the officials last night completely blew that call.

It's not Letang's fault Comeau spun around and acted like he got shot on contact.  Heck, after being on the ice for a few minutes and watching his teammate, Josh Bailey, jump Letang to seek retribution after the hit, Comeau continued to play and even assisted on both Islanders' goals to tie the game later that same period -- a power-play marker by Bailey after he served his two-minute penalty for chasing Letang down, then a later tally by defenseman Radek Martinek to tie it.

Give me a break.

The point is, kudos to the Penguins' defenders -- including 3 guys who played basically all of last year in the AHL, Lovejoy, Engelland and Hutchinson -- for standing tall in the face of adversity.

As I said, big game tonight.  The most interesting thing to see will be whether Head Coach Dan Bylsma goes back to Johnson between the pipes, or whether he gives Fleury a chance to start straightening out his uneven play so far this year.

I'm also hoping from a virtuoso effort from our Captain tonight.  We need a big game from him on back-to-back nights with the team still shorthanded on the blueline.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!