Islanders fall to Penguins in shootout

Save for a few flare-ups in the first period, Friday night's follow-up to the FightFest at Nassau Coliseum two months ago was relatively tame. But the hotly anticipated rematch between the Islanders and Penguins didn't lack for excitement.

The Islanders tied the score with 35 seconds left in regulation before losing in the shootout and dropping a 4-3 decision to Pittsburgh in their last home game of the season -- a 16,250 sellout.

Unlike the Islanders' 9-3 rout of the Penguins Feb. 11, a game that featured a franchise record-setting 346 combined penalty minutes, 11 game misconducts and 15 fighting majors, Friday night's contest boiled down to one simple shootout goal.

Rookie defenseman Travis Hamonic tied the score with a blast from the point with 35 seconds left in the third period, sending it to a scoreless overtime.

After stopping the first two Penguins shooters, Islanders goaltender Al Montoya gave up the game-winner to Chris Kunitz in the third round.

"It was a good, clean hockey game. I think fans got their money's worth," coach Jack Capuano said. "Both goaltenders stole the show, but in the skills competition, they got the goal."

With league disciplinarian Colin Campbell in attendance, the Penguins jockeying for playoff positioning and the on-ice officials quick to defuse any potential situation, the game had a different feel from the teams' last meeting. There were 13 penalties, including four fighting majors and three misconducts in the first period. There were no line brawls, goalie fights or ejections, but there were plenty of bare-knuckle moments. Tensions between the teams resurfaced during the first period.

Two seconds after Michael Rupp's backhanded whack gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 8:57, enforcers Trevor Gillies and Eric Godard dropped the gloves at center ice. In an effort to deflate the intensity, officials sent both to their dressing rooms with 10-minute misconducts and five-minute fighting majors.

Less than three minutes after the first fight, Zenon Konopka was sent off the ice after his scrap with Arron Asham, with two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Asham received only a five-minute fighting major.

Gillies and Konopka were required to attend in-person hearings with the NHL for their roles in February's fracas. Konopka received no punishment, but Gillies was slapped with a nine-game ban for his elbow on Eric Tangradi. Matt Martin was hit with a four-game suspension for an incident with Max Talbot and the Islanders were fined $100,000.

Blake Comeau, who missed the teams' last meeting with a concussion -- the impetus for the bad blood between the two teams -- tallied two goals.

"Obviously, there was a lot of hype around the game with what happened last time, but we just decided it was a hockey game," Comeau said. "We knew they were trying to clinch the division and climb the standings. We put whatever happened in the past behind us."