The Pittsburgh Penguins, the heavily favored top seed in the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs have struggled mightily with the scrappy eighth-seeded New York Islanders. The majority of the blame for the Penguins' issues has been heaped on Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh's embattled goalie who has been benched for tonight's pivotal Game 5. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. in CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, and the game can be live streamed for free here.
Fleury, who has given up an average of 3.4 goals per game in this postseason's opening series, surrendered six on Tuesday night in a 6-4 loss at Nassau Coliseum. Fleury has allowed 14 goals in the last three games after pitching a shutout in Game 1.
Fleury's ineffectiveness has forced Penguins coach Dan Bylsma's hand in relegating him to the bench in favor of Tomas Vokoun, who appeared in 20 games this season. Vokoun posted a save percentage of .919, nearly identical to Fleury's .916 during the regular season. His goals against average of 2.45 was actually higher than Fleury's 2.39.
The numbers seem similar, which is a positive in the eyes of Bylsma. Their similarity indicates that Vokoun is capable of performing as a starter; bear in mind that Fleury was solid during the regular season. "We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us," Bylsma said.
Following the Islanders' surprising Game 4 victory, there was much extracurricular activity that appeared to be initiated by the Penguins, possibly signaling frustration with the Islanders' refusal to lie down for the high seed.
"We're hoping that they are a little rattled and they are a little worried about us because we think that we have every opportunity to win this series," said Matt Carkner, an Islanders defenseman. "We're here to win this series."
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby believes smarter play from his own team's end will make a big difference in the final games of this series. "Part of it is us not making bad plays sometimes, too," he said. "When they're coming that hard the play needs to be made and you've got to execute or else they're coming back the other way pretty quickly."
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