Pens clinch playoff spot with dominant win over New York Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins keep getting challenges thrown at them. They had to navigate a nine game Metro division streak. They came through that 7-2-0, vital points that have propelled them to where they are in the table. They've overcome injuries to key players like Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta. Yesterday they overcame another obstacle with Matt Murray playing in place of Marc-Andre Fleury was diagnosed with a concussion.

Matt Murray has been a superb player this season and is the most talked about goaltending prospect in the league right now. His name was mentioned at the trade deadline but Jim Rutherford was rightly adamant in that he wouldn't be traded. He made the right choice, especially when you consider the back-up, Zatkoff and the future.

This was an early matinee game and the consequences were clear. Win and the Penguins would be in the 2016 playoffs and in for their 10th straight year. A huge improvement from when they fired Mike Johnston and were hanging on an edge. The stats all point to improvements across the field, it is a shame they didn't fire him earlier.

The Penguins dominated this game and most of that was due to the glue-like ability Matt Murray had with the puck. After a brief opening wobble anything that was shot at him, stuck to him. The confidence in his game grew and it was clear to see. When you have that belief in your goaltender your defence is able to play easier and relax. They don't have to worry about what the goaltender will do.

The Penguins took the lead on a short-handed goal from Oskar Sundqvist, his first in the NHL. The goal was a bit odd as the Penguins went for a line change and reacted quickest to Berube clearing the puck into the center of the Islanders zone. Berube couldn't get set in time in net and Sundqvist ripped it past him.

Patric Hornqvist hit the 20 goal plateau for the sixth time in his career and he is now only 5 points away from tying his seasons best in points. When you consider the poor start he had it is impressive he is able to potentially reach that record. It also, again, shows how much of an improvement the Penguins offence is under Sullivan. Kessel has also rebounded and is looking like finishing strong after another goal, from the same spot that he scored his second on Rinne.

I still maintain that perhaps one of the best signings in the summer was that of Matt Cullen. He scored his 14th of the season today and picked up an assist on Kuhnhackl's 5th goal. For only $800k you really can't fault it and the Penguins should look to sign him up for another season. His chemistry with the players that have come up from Wilkes-Barre has been superb and really helped them come out offensively.

The Penguins will likely face one of two teams in the post-season. The Rangers or the Islanders. The Rangers have had a bad run of late but I would still expect them to finish in the third Metropolitan division spot. I think I would prefer to play the Islanders though as I believe they would be an "easier" match-up. But, whoever we get, we'll take it. The Penguins host the Flyers later today. We could help eliminate them from the playoffs. Wouldn't that be fun?