PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Beyond the game work, the Pens worked on a lot of drills this week at practice enhancing their quickness and smarts through the neutral zone as they prepare for the first round series against the Islanders.
"Trotz's teams are always very sound defensively," said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. "They play with a lot of structure. They are a defense first mindset. We are going to have to be prepared to play in low scoring games."
Stats back up those statements, the Islanders have the fewest goals against in the Eastern Conference and second only to Las Vegas in the NHL at 125 goals allowed or 2.23 per game. The only game the Pens didn't score in was against the Isles.
"We are going to have to be prepared for numbers back all the time," Sullivan said. "We are going to have to find ways to create offense different ways. If there's opportunity to create offense off the rush, we have to take what the game gives us. If there isn't, we got to be willing to put pucks deep and create offense through our ground game."
"Move the puck quickly, try to get up the ice as fast as you can," said forward Bryan Rust. "Against a team like the Islanders who defend so well and has numbers back. Use our speed to maybe gain a little bit of space to try and make some plays on the run."
Islanders are 6th in the league in killing penalties, number one at home but their PK is bottom 10 on the road. They are top 10 in fewest shots allowed and faceoff wins, among other defensive stats.
"We believe our team is capable of creating offense different ways," Sullivan said. "We've shown that throughout the course of this season consistently. Both against teams that play a stingy defensive style, but teams that play more of an offensive style."
Beyond the trackable numbers, is just the general frustration of playing against that type of team.
"I think the most important thing is we take what the game gives us and we have an element of patience," Rust said.
"It's a team that doesn't give up a lot so you have to be patient," said captain Sidney Crosby. "When you get your chances, you have to capitalize."
That is like so many statements, much easier to say than do. New York will challenge from the beginning in that regard, but if the Pens get behind. How patient will a team, losers of 9 of its last 10 post-season games, be if they trail?
That's one of the key questions of the series.
