Penguins Game 1: Josh Bailey's rebound goal sends Islanders to OT win

UNIONDALE, N.Y. —

OVERTIME: Josh Bailey was denied by the post in the final seconds of regulation.

He scored on a shot after the puck bounced off the post at 4:39 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 victory over the Penguins in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup first-round playoff series at Nassau Coliseum.

When Mathew Barzal’s backhand from the slot bounced off the left post, Bailey got the game winner.

In a cruel twist, the Islanders almost ended it the way they started it: Tom Kuhnhackl almost scored a goal, only to have a video review show otherwise. Where his first-period goal was overturned only by an offsides call, his chance only 1:12 into overtime wasn’t nearly as obvious to determine.

Kuhnhackl slid between Olli Maatta and Patric Hornqvist and crashed into the net, knocking it off its moorings and sending Penguins goalie Matt Murray sprawling. But officials ruled that the puck didn’t cross the goal line.

Given a second chance, Bailey beat the Penguins.

THIRD PERIOD: Just when the Penguins looked like they were about to surrender the first game of this Stanley Cup first-round series to the Islanders, Jake Guentzel got in the way.

And Justin Schultz blasted away.

Schultz took a pass form used a perfect screen from Guentzel in front of goalie Robin Lehner to score the tying goal to make it 3-3 at 18:31 of the third period.

Then the post got in the way for the Islanders.

They had a great chance for the game winner when Josh Bailey redirected a cal Clutterbuck pass with five seconds left, but the puck bounced off the left post.

That the Penguins somehow sent this one to overtime should be considered an upset, as Game 1 of this first-round series started with the talk of their decisions on defensemen and the Islanders got a goal from a defenseman that almost ended it.

Nick Leddy’s fluttering shot gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 12:35 of the third period.

The way the play went down made it easy to second-guess Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s decision to stick with Olli Maatta over Jack Johnson upon the return of Brian Dumoulin (who made an excellent play to break up the Islanders’ two-on-one just moments before Leddy’s goal).

It came after the Penguins lost Erik Gudbranson to an apparent injury when the defenseman had his left leg taken out by Islanders captain Anders Lee and crashed into the boards. Gudbranson had to be helped off the ice by teammates.

It came after Maatta got an icing call, then couldn’t get off the ice. Leo Komarov took the puck off Maatta on the forecheck and fed it to Leddy at center point for the go-ahead goal.

But it was a Penguins defenseman who got the last goal.

We’ll see who gets the last laugh.

SECOND PERIOD: It seemed like the second period started with a penalty and ended with a kick from The Karate Kid.

Maybe that’s just me.

If the first period of Game 1 of the Penguins-Islanders was about scoring goals, the second period was about penalties.

And that’s when this game got chippy.

After allowing big hits early, officials sent Phil Kessel to the penalty box for a questionable tripping call on Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov for a holding penalty.

That turned this one into a power play for power plays.

The Penguins got a big backcheck on the penalty kill by Justin Schultz to stop one scoring chance, and Matt Murray slid his backside to break up another.

A scrum started in front of the Islanders net when Cal Clutterbuck leveled Matt McCann and Jake Guentzel responded with a shove, followed by another behind the net when that sent both Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and Penguins center Evgeni Malkin to the box for roughing.

It was with about 10 seconds remaining in that four-on-four that the pivotal penalty occurred, one that proved to be the most important. Guentzel had the puck along the right boards when Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock dragged down Sidney Crosby, giving the Penguins a power play at 12:30.

That’s where Malkin made his mark, taking his time by stick-handling from the top of the right circle before finding a spot. Malkin’s shot ricocheted off the stick of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, past goalie Robin Lehner and into the left corner of the net to make it 2-2 at 13:41 of the second.

Just like that, the Penguins had tied the game.

As we walked to the elevator after the second period, actor Ralph Macchio – star of The Karate Kid and a well-known Islanders fan – was walking off and talking about the offsides call that wiped out Kuhnhackl’s goal early in the first period. He’s right. The Islanders could be winning.

Instead, this game is tied. The Penguins have the momentum.

Now they just have to avoid a crane kick in the third.

FIRST PERIOD: The Stanley Cup playoffs started with a surprise for the Pittsburgh Penguins, not so much about which defenseman was in their lineup but rather which one wasn’t.

After missing the final three games and not taking part in the morning skate Wednesday, Brian Dumoulin was back for Game 1 against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Jack Johnson was a healthy scratch, despite being the only defenseman to play in every regular-season game for the Penguins.

That’s a bold move by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, given that Johnson was their biggest offseason acquisition after being signed by general manager Jim Rutherford to a five-year, $16.25-million free-agent contract last summer.

Not to mention that Johnson has a history of performing in the playoffs, scoring 21 points in 23 games. His 0.91 points-per-game average is almost triple his regular-season average (0.33).

Johnson was still smarting being a healthy scratch for the Columbus Blue Jackets in their first-round series last year against the Washington Capitals, and was pumped to play in the postseason for the first time with the Penguins.

“It almost feels like I didn’t make the playoffs last year,” Johnson said Monday. “Regardless of what happened last year, I’m excited about this year’s playoffs.”

But it also makes sense, if the Penguins were placing a premium on puck movement against the stingy Islanders. That explains why Sullivan gave the nod to Olli Maatta and Marcus Pettersson over Johnson, going with Maatta’s playoff experience and keeping Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson together.

Of the Penguins’ top seven defensemen, Johnson also has the worst goals-against per 60 minutes on the ice at five on five at 2.72, well behind Gudbranson 1.51, Pettersson 1.76, Justin Schultz 1.96, Kris Letang 2.25, Dumoulin 2.29 and Maatta 2.39.

All of the maneuvering didn’t matter much, as the Islanders scored only 33 seconds into the game on a goal by — of all people — Tom Kuhnhackl, whose shot hit the post in overtime in a 2-1 Game 6 loss to the Capitals at PPG Paints Arena that eliminted the two-time defending Cup champions last year.

Kuhnhackl’s goal, however, was disallowed after a coach’s challenge. A review showed the Islanders had a player offsides as Kuhnhackl slipped through the Penguins and ripped a shot past Matt Murray.

Only one minute, seven seconds later, Jordan Eberle gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead by slipping a shot from the crease between Murray’s legs. To make matters worse, Dumoulin was on the receiving end of a collision with Brock Nelson that knocked Dumoulin off his skates. He skated off the ice and didn’t return until late.

#APRIL10 #PITvsNYI #GM1 1st period
Here was the Brock Nelson hit on Brian Dumoulin pic.twitter.com/Ko4B6xzn5z

— John Smith (@ThisIsMyReplay) April 11, 2019

The Penguins tied it at 1-1 when Phil Kessel found the puck in the slot after Dominik Simon lost control, and scored at 5:42. But Eberle and Nelson would combine to add insult to injury, as Eberle outmaneuvered Letang and fed Nelson for a point-blank shot for a power-play goal to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 15:46.

If that makes it appear that Sullivan’s decision backfired, consider that the Penguins had more shots on goal than the Islanders (17-12) and played about half of the period without Dumoulin.

What will be interesting to see is whether the Islanders were riding high off starting the playoffs with home-ice advantage and feeding off the loud crowd at Nassau Coliseum or they can maintain their momentum.

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.