Pens deal Isles first loss of season
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Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Patric Hornqvist had a pair of goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins handed the New York Islanders their first loss of the season, 3-1, on Saturday night.
Evgeni Malkin had the other goal for the Penguins, who were coming off their first loss of the season against Dallas on Thursday. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 shots in the win.
"We have it going right now," Hornqvist said. "We have to keep working and not sit back."
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Thomas Hickey scored the only goal of the game for the Islanders, who had won their first four games. Jaroslav Halak allowed two goals on 37 shots in defeat.
"We had opportunities too and we didn't capitalize," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. "They did and that's the difference in the game."
The Islanders got the only goal of the first period on a rush play as Ryan Strome sent a pass from the right boards to the left wing where Hickey let fly with a wrister into the right corner at 5:46.
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Pittsburgh tied the game at 13:49 of the second with a 5-on-3 goal as Sidney Crosby sent a pass from the low right circle to the slot where Malkin wristed it home for his second of the year.
Still on the power play, the Pens grabbed a 2-1 lead less than a minute later as Malkin's big blast from the right point was tipped in by Hornqvist.
Fleury stopped 17 shots in the third period, and Hornqvist sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.
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Game Notes
The Islanders hosts Toronto on Tuesday ... Pittsburgh welcomes Philadelphia on Wednesday ... The Pens took three of four from the Isles last season ... Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play, while New York was 0-for-7.