Pittsburgh Edges New York, NHL News

The Pittsburgh Penguins know the freewheeling portion of the regular season -- or what passes for it these days -- is gone.

If Pittsburgh wants to reach the postseason for a 10th straight year by surviving a chaotic Eastern Conference playoff race, the Penguins understand they're going to have to play the kind of disciplined hockey they've occasionally abandoned.

Three-plus periods against the New York Islanders provided a timely refresher.

Kris Letang scored the only goal of the shootout with a pretty backhand past rookie goalie Jean-Francois Berube as Pittsburgh slipped past New York 2-1 to strengthen its hold on the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Toward the end of the year, it's going to be games like that, one-goal games," Letang said. "You have to be comfortable in those."

The Penguins certainly looked at ease. Pittsburgh controlled play for long stretches and didn't get rattled after New York's Kyle Okposo tied it with 5:45 remaining.

The Penguins dominated overtime and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside Frans Nielsen, Okposo and John Tavares as the Penguins earned a little payback a week removed from a 2-1 loss in Brooklyn.

Tuesday, March 15 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 2, NY Islanders 1 (SO)

Washington 2, Carolina 1 (OT)

Philadelphia 4, Detroit 3

Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 1

Florida 4, Montreal 1

Ottawa 3, Minnesota 2 (OT)

Los Angeles 5, Dallas 2

San Jose 3, Boston 2

Wednesday, March 16 Schedule (All Times Central)

Montreal at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago    , 7 p.m.

St. Louis at Edmonton, 8:30 p.m.

Winnipeg at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Colorado at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

NY Rangers at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.