from Mark Madden at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

The New York Islanders are better than I figured. (Perhaps I should have taken a closer look at the standings.)

The Islanders won two close games on Long Island because they were able to impose their style. The Penguins didn’t stink. They just couldn’t get going.

The Penguins pay lip service to playing down low, and are excellent at it when they bother. But they prefer attacking off the rush. The Islanders prefer the Penguins don’t. Helped by the getting the last change at home, Islanders coach Barry Trotz got favorable matchups, owned the neutral zone and made the Penguins’ attack wither.

Full credit to Trotz. You work with what you got. Trotz doesn’t have star power. So he counters with tactics, and playing to his team’s strengths.

The Penguins’ flaw has been flinching at inopportune moments.

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