Post-Game Battle Level Report: Penguins 3, Islanders 1 (en)

(Note: I'm going to do this one a little differently and just go with the Battle Level breakdown and not the plus/minus. How this affects my own personal Battle Level is up to the reader.)

[ Box | Game Sum | Event Sum | Fancy: Natural Stat Trick - HockeyStats.ca | Recaps: | Isles | NHL | ]

HAHD: Travis Hamonic appeared to be hurt at the end of the first period and left early for the locker room clutching either his arm or his side. He returned for the second and seemed no worse for the wear. Hamonic may have been a little too HAHD when he attacked Steve Downie after a hit on Frans Nielsen and received a 10-minute misconduct in the third period.

SMAHT: Ryan Strome had an active game and his quick pass to Thomas Hickey set up the Islanders' first goal. Strome grabbed a puck in space that was lost by Brock Nelson, and, like Aaron Rodgers, zipped a seeing eye lead pass to his receiver. In the third, Strome gave his stick to a twigless Johnny Boychuk, then rubbed out Sidney Crosby along the boards legally with his bare hands which led to a zone clear (and an icing, but it was still a nice play).

WARRIORS: Jaroslav Halak was very strong in the face of a lot of Penguins pressure, especially around his crease. His two goals against were scored on a 5-on-3 and from behind a screen. Oh, and both were by Evgeni Malkin, who's no slouch. Strome and Nikolay Kulemin were buzzing all game long.

PASSENGERS: The Islanders came into the game with the NHL's best powerplay and left with a whole lot of drop passes, errant feeds, missed chances and an 0-for-7 ledger. Both units were very sloppy during each man advantage. Sloppy doesn't really cover it, but it's the best way to sum it up. Boychuk's cannon was noticibly absent save for one shot that rang off the post in the second.

OVERALL BATTLE LEVEL: One Cappy out of Five. The Islanders looked as if they had played last night in, say, Vancouver or Anaheim, and not Thursday on Long Island. For the first 10 minutes, a 5-0 start looked like a real possibility. Down just 2-1 halfway through the third, the dream was dead. The Quest for 5-1-0 begins Tuesday.