Islanders' structure, discipline helped exploit Penguins' flaws

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Islanders' structure, discipline helped exploit Penguins' flaws

Tim Benz | Wednesday, April 17, 2019 6:17 a.m.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

The Penguins head off the ice after losing to the Islanders ending their Stanley Cup hopes at PPG Paints Arena on April 16, 2019.

The Penguins season is over a lot earlier than we expected. And there are many reasons why. So let’s take a look at all of them in our final Peguins Sided.co podcast of the 2018-19 season.

Tribune-Review beat writer Jonathan Bombulie joins me to discuss how the Islanders managed to sweep the Penguins. They weren’t just a bad matchup. The Penguins have flaws beyond what the Islanders exploited.

LISTEN: For Penguins, how did it come to this?

One of those flaws is that there is speed missing from one key position on the Penguins as opposed to what we saw in 2016 and 2017 when they won the Stanley Cup.

The Islanders have structure and discipline blended with talent. Can the Penguins do that next year?

Also, we get into potential roster changes for next year. Some mixed messages were sent this season. And we scrutinize how the salary cap will impact next year’s team.

Who is most to blame for the Penguins' first-round playoff sweep?

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) April 17, 2019