PITTSBURGH—There are few ways this postseason debut for the Islanders could have gone any worse.
The moments of hope that the young Islanders had a chance in this first-round series against the mighty Penguins were short-lived last night at the CONSOL Energy Center, where the result of Game 1 was never in doubt and the Penguins ran away with a demoralizing 5-0 win.
Very few people gave the eighth-seeded Islanders a chance in this best-of-seven series, and it didn’t take long to reinforce all the common opinions.
The Islanders were flat-footed, got outworked, outskated and absolutely outclassed. And that was all as the Penguins played without Hart Trophy favorite Sidney Crosby (broken jaw), stout defenseman Brooks Oprik (lower body), and almost all of the final two periods without sniper James Neal (left with ankle injury).
The third period might as well have been a celebratory walk-through, as it was in the second when the Islanders went from scratching for life to dead and buried. Already down 2-0 after the first, the Islanders started the second period on the penalty kill — and made things worse when Marty Reasoner took a brutal tripping call on Evgeni Malkin.
The 23-second 5-on-3 didn’t produce, but two seconds after it expired Kris Letang ripped a wrist shot from right circle past Evgeni Nabokov to make it 3-0, just 1:19 into the period. With the building rocking, it was just 32 seconds later when Pascal Dupuis added his second goal of the game, making it 4-0.
That chased Nabokov out of his net, getting replaced by rookie 23-year-old Kevin Poulin. With just under seven minutes remaining in the period, Poulin gave a little piece of insurance to the Penguins, allowing a bad-angle goal to Tanner Glass, the 5-0 lead seeming as insurmountable as anything imaginable.
There might have been some nerves to start the game for the Islanders, as 16 of their 20 players never had been the postseason. By watching the game more than pressing the action, they ended the franchise’s first 20 minutes of playoff action in six years down 2-0.
The first goal came after Brian Strait took a tough interference penalty, slamming into perpetual pest Matt Cooke seconds after Cooke planted Thomas Hickey into the boards with a high hit. On the ensuing Penguins’ power play, rookie fourth-liner Beau Bennett skated right past Andrew MacDonald and Reasoner, then lifted one over Nabokov’s shoulder to make it 1-0, 3:30 into the game.
Near the end of the period, with the Isles somewhat stemming the tide, there was a scramble in the slot after Nabokov had denied Craig Adams hacking attempts at the right post. When Nabokov came out to save a Jarome Iginla shot, the puck ended up on the blade of Dupuis, who batted it into the open net for 2-0 lead.
The Islanders did have a good chance to make a statement on a power play midway through the first, but regardless of some good looks, got only one shot on goal. The opportunity for life — not just in this game, but to set a precedent of resiliency for the series — went for naught.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com
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