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22.11.2014 Sports News

New York Islanders pip Pittsburgh Penguins in Metropolitan heavyweight battle

By Allsports.com.gh
New York Islanders pip Pittsburgh Penguins in Metropolitan heavyweight battle
22.11.2014 LISTEN

The two sides are clearly the best performed so far in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan division, with the second-placed Islanders five points clear of the Washington Capitals in third.

The Islanders trailed after Brandon Sutter's goal in the second minute at the Consol Energy Center, but the visitors responded later in the first period.

Three goals in the space of 95 seconds - each of Matt Martin, Nikolay Kulemin and Ryan Strome scored - gave New York a comfortable buffer in the blink of an eye.

Pittsburgh's Blake Comeau pulled one back before the first interval, but Nick Leddy would reinstate the Islanders' two-goal lead in the middle period.

Patric Hornqvist was then critical for the Penguins - he assisted Nick Spaling to make it a one-goal game, before his third-period goal levelled proceedings.

Sidney Crosby and Frans Nielsen traded goals in the shoot-out, but Sutter's miss combined with Kyle Okposo's goal handed bragging rights to the Islanders over the Metropolitan leaders.

It was the Islanders' seventh win in eight, but coach Jack Capuano implored his players to keep improving.

"When you don't play well, and you don't stay focused and you don't do the intangibles that it takes, you still win the hockey game," Capuano said.

"So, they're a good team in there.
"They have to believe in playing the right way and I know it's going to happen over a long season, but tonight, we needed to be a little bit better."

The Columbus Blue Jackets' woes were furthered, as they coughed up a two-goal lead late before losing 4-3 after a shoot-out to the Boston Bruins.

First-period goals credited to Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno had the Columbus hosts in control of the contest, before Dennis Seidenberg's speculative shot from outside his own attacking zone beat Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Bruins' opener set them into motion, and little over 10 minutes later they had the lead, as Matt Fraser and Daniel Paille found the back of the net.

Jack Johnson fired one in to equalise for Columbus, but the Bruins prevailed in the seventh round of the shoot-out - as Alexander Khokhlachev was able to find the target, after 13 straight failures across both teams.

The Blue Jackets and the Edmonton Oilers share the second-worst record in the NHL as it stands, as their tally of 14 points is better only than the Buffalo Sabres (12).

The Oilers were shut out 2-0 by the New Jersey Devils, after goaltender Cory Schneider made 29 saves for the victors.

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