NHL play-offs: Pittsburgh Penguins begin with shut-out of New York Islanders

Superb goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury who makes 26 saves in 5-0 win.

Marc-Andre Fleury, right, made 26 saves for the Pittsburgh Penguins. David DeNoma / Reuters
Powered by automated translation

Pascal Dupuis scored twice, Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves, and the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins opened the NHL play-offs with a 5-0 romp over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Beau Bennett, Kris Letang and Tanner Glass also scored for the Penguins, who had no trouble against the upstart Islanders even with star Sidney Crosby sidelined by a broken jaw. Crosby has been out since he was struck by a puck on March 30 in a game against the Islanders.

Fleury earned his sixth career play-off shut-out.

The Penguins, the No 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat Evgeni Nabokov four times in the game's first 22 minutes, including goals by Letang and Dupuis 32 seconds apart early in the second period to send Nabokov to the bench after he stopped just 11 shots.

Kevin Poulin came on in relief and surrendered a soft goal to Glass.

Game 2 is Friday in Pittsburgh.

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 1

Nathan Horton scored the go-ahead goal late in the first period, and Boston used a revived offense to beat Toronto in the play-off series opener.

The Bruins scored more than three goals for the first time in 10 games. They closed the regular season on a 2-7 skid that dropped them to the No 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

That set up a first-round match-up with fifth-seeded Toronto, the first time the teams have met in the post-season since 1974. The Maple Leafs, who are in the play-offs for the first time since 2004, lost four of their last six regular-season games.

Wade Redden also scored in the first period for Boston, and David Krejci and Johnny Boychuk added goals in the second.

James van Riemsdyk had given Toronto a 1-0 lead with a power play just 1:54 into the game.

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday night in Boston, where the Bruins have won six straight against the Maple Leafs.

San Jose Sharks 3, Vancouver Canucks 1

Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau scored in the third period for San Jose, which rallied to beat Vancouver in the first-round Western Conference series opener.

Boyle and Logan Couture both had a goal and an assist, and Marleau pushed San Jose's lead to 3-1. Antti Niemi made 28 saves for the Sharks, who were outshot 30-28.

Kevin Bieksa scored for the Canucks before a disappointed white-towel-waving sell-out crowd. The loss spoiled a strong effort from goalie Roberto Luongo, who earned the start after Cory Schneider did not recover in time from an undisclosed injury.

The Canucks were the first home team to lose in the first six games of this year's play-offs.

Follow us