The Pittsburgh Penguins have been forced to deal with plenty of injuries lately, but that hasn’t slowed them down one bit.
Prior to today’s game, the Pens announced that Marc-Andre Fleury was out indefinitely because of a concussion. Instead of crumbling, Pittsburgh turned in a dominant 5-0 performance against the New York Islanders. What makes it even more impressive is that Pittsburgh was already without Olli Maatta and Evgeni Malkin.
It was a night of firsts for the Pens. Oskar Sundqvist opened the scoring with his first NHL goal. He can thank Isles goalie J-F Berube for that one (to watch the play, click here), and rookie goalie Matt Murray made 24 saves to record his first career shutout.
The Penguins followed up Sundqvist’s goal by scoring four more goals (Patrick Hornqvist, Matt Cullen, Phil Kessel, Tom Kuhnhackl).
Captain Sidney Crosby registered his 600th career assist on Hornqvist’s goal.
Crosby’s been red-hot of late:
Crosby's assist on the Hornqvist goal gives him a point in 17 of his past 18 games. Somehow, he didn't get one in a 3-0 loss to New Jersey.
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) April 2, 2016
The win clinches a playoff spot for the Penguins, which means their first round pick in 2016 will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the Kessel trade.
Here’s an updated look at the Metropolitan Division standings after the Flyers and Penguins both won this afternoon:
The Islanders and Flyers currently own the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.