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Pens' SO win pulls them in a tie for Atlantic Division lead

Apr 9, 2011 - 5:22 AM Uniondale, NY (Sports Network) - Chris Kunitz scored the lone goal in the third round of the shootout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the New York Islanders, 4-3, at Nassau Coliseum.

After the first five shooters were unable to turn on the red light, Kunitz snapped a wrister past New York goaltender Al Montoya.

Mark Letestu, Zbynek Michalek and Michael Rupp also tallied for the Penguins, who have won three straight and seven of their last nine games.

"There are things about the game that I didn't like, but our team found a way to win," said Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves in the win that pulled Pittsburgh even with Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic Division after the Flyers lost in overtime to Buffalo. Both teams have 104 points, but Philadelphia owns the first tiebreaker with more non-shootout wins. Each club has just one game remaining.

Blake Comeau had two goals for New York, which tied the game on Travis Hamonic's marker with 35 seconds left in regulation. Montoya stopped 35 shots.

"The fans got their money's worth tonight," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said.

Friday's game was not nearly as feisty as the previous encounter at the same venue two months ago. That game on February 11 featured 65 penalties and 346 penalty minutes as the Islanders posted a 9-3 victory.

New York appeared to tie the game as Matt Moulson pumped home his own rebound with 1:38 left in the third period. However, an official waved off the goal after concluding Isles forward John Tavares impeded Fleury.

Hamonic let go a slap shot from the point a little over a minute later to draw the home team even.

Rupp shoveled a backhander through traffic and past Montoya to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at the 8:57 mark of the first period.

Michalek doubled the Penguins' advantage on a power play, firing a one-timer from the left point that beat Montoya on the short side at 11:11 of the second.

Comeau pounced on a rebound to halve New York's deficit with 4:42 left in the middle stanza, then struck again on a power play at 8:14 of the third. Michael Grabner skated around the net and dished to the left post for Comeau, who fired the puck into an open cage.

Letestu converted a feed from Rupp to put Pittsburgh up 3-2 at 12:21.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh took four of six from the Islanders this season and improved to 27-9-6 against its division rival since the beginning of the 2005-06 campaign...Penguins defenseman Kris Letang picked up his 100th career assist...The Islanders will close out their regular season Saturday in Philadelphia...Pittsburgh wraps up its regular season a day later in Atlanta...New York finished with a 17-18-6 record at home in 2010-11.