ELMONT, N.Y. -- The Islanders scored five times Tuesday in what ended up being a 5-1 victory over the Penguins here in Elmont, N.Y.
Mike Sullivan said it "might've been our worst game of the year."
Brian Dumoulin was on the ice the first three of those New York goals against, and no goals for. He was on the ice for Anders Lee's opening goal 63 seconds into the game and Mat Barzal's goal just 50 seconds into the middle game, and then again for Josh Bailey's goal that made it 3-1 midway through the second period.
Dumoulin has struggled for much of this season, and this may have been his toughest game.
Of the three goals Dumoulin was on the ice for, it was that first one by Lee that was the toughest look for him.
The play started with Dumoulin behind the Penguins' net. He picked up a loose puck and rimmed it along the boards to Jason Zucker, who was waiting up by the blue line. Evgeni Malkin couldn't handle Zucker's pass, and the puck popped out to Lee in the slot. Dumoulin jumped up and tried to poke-check the puck away, but poked it right to Brock Nelson. Nelson and Lee then had a 2-on-1, and Dumoulin had a tough time changing directions and getting back quick enough to defend it. By the time he dropped to one knee to block the shot, it was behind Tristan Jarry and in the back of the net:
I spoke one-on-one with Dumoulin after the game and asked him what happened on that goal.
"I saw the puck kind of turned over when it came back," he told me. "I started to poke it out of the zone, they corralled it and there's a quick 2-on-1. It's just bang-bang in the back of the net. It's tough to give that one up so early in the game."
The results weren't a disaster in terms of shot attempts and shots on goal for vs. allowed when Dumoulin was on the ice at five-on-five. When he was on the ice, the Penguins recorded 15 unblocked shot attempts and allowed 16 for a ratio of 48.39%, the second-best of any Penguin tonight and the best of any Penguins defenseman. As far as actual shots on goal, he was on the ice for nine and allowed 13 for a ratio of 40.91%, the fourth-best on the team and the best of any defenseman.
It's not that Dumoulin has turned into a total sieve this season or even in this game. But when he's had a knack for making mistakes and misplays at the most inopportune times that prove costly for the Penguins. That was the case tonight.
