Penguins Blank Islanders

December 22, 1999 / 12:17 AM EST / CBS/AP

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't have to undress New York Islanders goalie Roberto Luongo his own teammates did.

Luongo stopped 26 Pittsburgh shots, but missed four others as the Penguins blanked the New York Islanders 4-0 on Tuesday night.

"We didn't give 100 percent effort tonight," Islanders defenseman Jamie Rivers said, "and if we did, we gave 100 percent in all the wrong directions."

Related Links

Game summary

More NHL features:

Enforce-O-Meter rankings

Next Generation

Exclusive audio

Pittsburgh goalie Peter Skudra turned aside 21 shots for his first shutout of the season, and fourth of his career. He was given a 1-0 lead 61 seconds into the game when Luongo stopped Jaromir Jagr's wrist shot, but lost sight of the rebound. German Titov snuck in and found the puck first and poked it into the net.

The Islanders weren't able to mount much of an attack against Skudra in the first period, and one of the game's turning points took place in the scoreless second period. Given a 1:40 two-man advantage, New York managed just two shots in that span, and never really came close.

"Killing that 3-on-5 was the key for us," Skudra said. "I had to do my job and keep it at 1-0 for as long as possible."

Pittsburgh scored three times in a 4:18 span of the third period to put the game away.

Defenseman Michal Rozsival started things with a goal at 6:59, due to a blown defensive coverage. Robert Lang was left uncovered whe he took a cross-ice pass from Titov and scored at 9:16. Jan Hrdina finished off the Islanders at 11:17 when he took the rebound of Jagr's wrist shot and roofed it over Luongo.

Islanders coach Butch Goring, who never addresses the team immediately after a game, made an exception. And for 10 minutes, he did so in a voice loud enough to be heard through the concrete wall that separates the Islanders' dressing room from the hallway where reporters wait. After his tirade, a more-composed Goring said the effort his team put forth was unacceptable.

"We fell apart at the end," Goring said. "We gave up. The short of it all is that regardless of the score, we're about competing. We seemed to be a half a step behind all night, and then we fell apart at the end."

Islanders defenseman Eric Brewer said that he was one of the guilty parties.

"I think the d-men, especially myself, were out of sync," Brewer said. "Obviously, I eat myself away on the bench when that happens. We should be making life miserable for (Pittsburgh), and they had their way."