The New York Islanders lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout Tuesday night despite a strong start from backup goaltender Jean-Francois Berube. The Islanders were able to force overtime after a goal from Kyle Okposo, but the team could not pull out the win.
The Penguins earned the 2-1 victory with a goal from Kris Letang in the shootout, while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all three chances from the Islanders. Frans Nielsen, Okposo and John Tavares were turned away to give Pittsburgh the win. Fleury had 25 saves in the game, while Berube had 33 saves on 34 shots. The rookie goalie was only making his third career start, and while the Islanders lost,
Both teams are battling for a playoff position, with the Penguins sitting in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders are next in the standings with a three-point lead over the Penguins. While the Islanders would have loved to get the two points for the win, the team earned a much needed point with the shootout loss.
"It would've been nice to get two, obviously," defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "It's a pretty obvious thing, but you get them the best way you can this year. You try to gather them and I think we battled hard, certainly. It's not easy battling back in this building against a really good team."
Berube only allowed one goal in the shootout, but that was enough for the Penguins to pull out the victory. The goal from Letang came on a nifty play that saw the defenseman fake a shot to the right before putting a backhand shot over Berube's stick.
via GIPHY
"Toward the end of the year, it's going to be games like that, one-goal games," Letang said. "You have to be comfortable in those."
The Islanders are currently dealing with a major injury to starter Jaroslav Halak, putting Thomas Greiss in as the number one goalie. Berube is the backup, and this was his first start for the team since Halak went down. Overall, Berube has just three career starts, including the loss against the Penguins, but the rookie goalie has shown some great potential for the Islanders with 2.52 goals against average this season.
The 24-year-old is making a name for himself for the Islanders, and as the playoffs get closer, the rookie could get more playing time. Greiss will need nights off, and with Halak out for at least six weeks, the team needs Berube to step up. The Islanders are currently tied with the Rangers in the standings with 85 points. Whichever team finishes higher in the division standings will get home ice advantage in the playoffs.
