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Recap: Penguins 2, Islanders 3
Line Movements
Date: February 16, 2009 2:00 PM EDT
  

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -Dan Bylsma has ideas on how to turn the Pittsburgh Penguins back into Stanley Cup contenders. What the new coach might be lacking is enough time to make it happen this season.

Bylsma's debut with the Penguins, after he replaced fired coach Michel Therrien less than 24 hours earlier, wasn't a total loss Monday. But the 3-2 shootout defeat against the lowly New York Islanders was hardly a confidence booster for the struggling defending Eastern Conference champions.

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``With the little amount of time we had to make an adjustment or get on the same page systematic-wise, I think it was expected to see a scramble out there,' Bylsma said. ``As the game went on, we got more in tune with how we want to play.'

These Penguins will have to be fast learners if they hope to return to the Stanley Cup finals, or even the playoffs. With the one point earned Monday, Pittsburgh is still 10th in the Eastern Conference - two places and four points below the postseason cutoff in the East.

Pittsburgh (27-25-6) has 24 games to make a push, but the Penguins are 1-2-1 in their past four and have just one road win in 2009 (1-7-2).

``As players, we realize that things could change, but we still have to go out and play,' captain Sidney Crosby said. ``He just wanted us to be a little more aggressive, but to play the same basic way.'

Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini scored shootout goals, and Joey MacDonald turned aside Evgeni Malkin and Crosby in the tiebreaker to snap the Islanders' 0-4-1 skid.

``Those first moments, there were some nerves there,' said Bylsma, who hadn't completed one season as an AHL head coach before his big promotion.

Bylsma got the call that he would replace Therrien on Sunday, just before he was set to coach his Wilkes Barre-Scranton club - the Penguins' AHL affiliate.

The decision to dismiss Therrien, who led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals last year, was made by general manager Ray Shero after Pittsburgh blew a 2-0 lead at Toronto and gave up five goals in the third period of a 6-2 loss Saturday.

Bylsma is faced with the task of implementing a new fast, attacking style that can make the most of the Penguins' talented forwards. It produced a season-high 37 shots Monday, but only one point in the standings.

Malkin and Ryan Whitney scored tying goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves through overtime.

``We want two points every game, especially right now,' forward Jordan Staal said.

Chris Campoli and Frans Nielsen scored for New York, which owns the NHL's worst record (17-33-6).

``It's great to get the win,' MacDonald said. ``We knew with the coaching change that they would come out hard, and we responded pretty good.'

The Penguins erased a pair of one-goal deficits with 20 shots through two periods and then turned it on.

``We have to play that way for 60 minutes,' Bylsma said. ``If you do, you tip the scales in your favor.'

At Columbus, Ohio, James Neal scored the only goal in the shootout and Marty Turco had 41 saves to lead Dallas.

Neal, 6-for-9 in shootouts this season, slipped the puck past Steve Mason on the glove side. Turco, tested all night, then made a blocker save on Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash to preserve the win.

R.J. Umberger had both Blue Jackets goals in a span of 1:29 in the second period - the fastest goals ever by a Columbus player.

At St. Louis, B.J. Crombeen scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound with 5:14 to play to lift the Blues.

Lauri Korpikoski had the lone goal for the Rangers, who have lost eight of nine while scoring two or fewer goals in all but one.

Chris Mason made 19 saves and Carlo Colaiacovo also scored for the Blues, 4-1-2 in their last seven games while trying to inch into playoff contention.

At Nashville, Tenn., Nick Foligno and Dany Heatley scored first-period goals, and Alex Auld made 24 saves to lead Ottawa to its season-high fifth straight victory.

Since replacing Craig Hartsburg as coach on Feb. 2, Cory Clouston has guided Ottawa to a 5-1-1 record.

At Glendale, Ariz., Sheldon Souray scored a power-play goal with 14:27 remaining to lift Edmonton.

Ales Hemsky had a goal and assist and Shawn Horcoff added an empty-netter with 23.5 seconds left for the Oilers, who beat Phoenix for the seventh straight time.

Ed Jovanovski scored a power-play goal for the Coyotes, who lost their sixth straight at home and ninth in 10 games since the All-Star break.

At Los Angeles, Ilya Kovalchuk had two goals and an assist, rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian had three assists, and Erik Christensen scored in the fourth round of the shootout for Atlanta.

Anze Kopitar scored his second goal of the game for the Kings with 5 seconds left in the third period to force overtime.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2010
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

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BT MOVEMENTS

 NHL HEAD TO HEAD
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 Tools:   Boxscores  •  Recaps
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 NHL RECAPS
 Monday, Feb 16
 
  •  Penguins at Islanders
2:05 PM EDT
  •  Rangers at Blues
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Stars at Blue Jackets
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Senators at Predators
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Oilers at Coyotes
9:35 PM EDT
  •  Thrashers at Kings
10:35 PM EDT
 
 
 
  
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