Penguins 5, Islanders 0
NEW YORK -- Goalie Matthew Murray recorded his first career shutout Saturday afternoon as the Pittsburgh Penguins blanked the New York Islanders 5-0 at Barclays Center on Saturday.
Fellow rookie Oskar Sundqvist scored his first NHL goal and the Penguins became the second Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff berth.
In clinching a postseason spot for the 10th straight year, the Penguins (45-25-8) moved closer to avoiding a quarterfinal matchup with one of the East's top two seeds. Pittsburgh is in second place in the Metropolitan Division, five points ahead of the fourth-place Islanders. The second- and third-place teams in each division face each other in the first round.
Murray, making just his ninth NHL start, recorded 24 saves after being pressed into duty for Marc-Andre Fleury who was diagnosed with a concussion on Friday.
Sundqvist, appearing in his 14th game, scored an unassisted short-handed goal in the first. In the second, Peter Hornqvist scored a power play goal while Matt Cullen added an even-strength goal. Phil Kessel scored 10:40 into the third and Tom Kuhnhackl capped the scoring with 4:59 remaining.
The Islanders (42-26-9) had a four-game winning streak end in sloppy fashion. Turnovers led to three of the Penguins' goals. A clearing pass by goalie Jean-Francois Berube sailed by an inattentive Nick Leddy and right to Sundqvist, while defenseman Calvin De Haan had a pass intercepted by Eric Fehr to set up Cullen's goal.
Kessel scored following a turnover in the Penguins' zone, while Kuhnhackl's goal came after he pounced on a loose puck in the goalmouth and fired it into the net.
The Islanders' magic number for clinching a second straight playoff berth remained five points either gained by them or lost by the ninth-place Detroit Red Wings. New York leads the wild card race, two points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and four points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, pending the Red Wings' game later Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Berube made 28 saves.
NOTES: In addition to G Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins scratched D Olli Maatta (lower body) and RW Bryan Rust (lower body) as well as Derrick Pouliot. Fleury will be re-evaluated Monday. ... Penguins C Sidney Crosby, who was named the NHL's first star for March on Friday, earned another honor Saturday, when the team named him its Most Valuable Player. It is the sixth team MVP for Crosby, second-most in franchise history behind owner Mario Lemieux. ... The Islanders scratched C Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) and D Travis Hamonic (lower body) as well as RW Steve Bernier, LW Eric Boulton and D Ryan Pulock. ... Hamonic will miss the final six games of the regular season after suffering what is believed to be a right knee injury Thursday. He missed the regular season finale and each of the Islanders' seven playoff games last year with a left knee injury.