Palmieri lifts Isles in overtime
The Islanders brought Kyle Palmieri home at the trade deadline believing his mix of grit and scoring touch would make a difference in the playoffs.
So far, so very good.
Palmieri knocked a fluttering puck past Tristan Jarry 16:30 into overtime to give the Islanders a 4-3 victory over the Penguins in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday in Pittsburgh.
The Long Island, New York native collected a pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau near the goal line and lifted it over Jarry’s left shoulder as the Islanders beat the Penguins for the first time in five tries at PPG Paints Arena this season.
“I was brought here to try to help this team win,” Palmieri said. “Obviously, it’s just one game. Tomorrow, we’ll get back to work and get ready for Game 2. But it’s nice to start off on the right foot.”
Pageau and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders. Rookie goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves in his playoff debut and the Islanders handed the Penguins their 10th loss in the franchise’s last 11 postseason games.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
Sidney Crosby, Frederick Gaudreau and Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Penguins, but the East Division champions couldn’t capitalize despite controlling play for most of the first two periods.
The Islanders came in on their heels after finishing the regular season in a 6-6-3 funk, with none of the victories coming against playoff qualifiers.
The Penguins played without star center Evgeni Malkin. The three-time Stanley Cup winner missed 23 games during the regular season with a lowerbod injury but did appear in the Penguins’ final four games.
Malkin, 34, was limited at times in practice last week and didn’t take the ice for pregame warmups.
Wild take 1-0 lead: Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal at 3:20 of OT lifted the Wild past the host Golden Knights 1-0 in Game 1 of their Western Conference series.
Wild goaltender Cam Talbot stopped all 42 shots he faced.
The Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury, 36, the first goalie in NHL history to play in 15 consecutive postseasons, made 29 saves.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
‘Bad bounce’ for Blues: For a second straight day, Blues leading scorer, David Perron, appeared on the NHL’s “players unavailable due to COVID protocol” list. His status for Game 1 of their Western Conference series against the top-seeded Avalanche on Monday is uncertain.
His status moving forward, too.
Perron’s absence would be a big blow for the Blues, who also have two other players on the list in forward Nathan Walker and defenseman Jake Walman. Perron led the Blues with 58 points — 19 goals and 39 assists in 56 games.
“Phenomenal player,” Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly said of Perron. “It’s just such a bad bounce.”
The Avalanche are getting back one of their top scorers in Nathan MacKinnono. He missed four of the last five regular-season games with a lower-body injury.