2 days Ago By Seth Rorabaugh
Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has seen enough of the New York Islanders to know what they’re about. And he knows, even if they’ve largely struggled this season, the Islanders still present a stiff challenge to the Penguins. “They’ve had their fair share of ups and downs in this first part of the season,” Sullivan said Friday in Cranberry.
“As have most teams, ourselves included. Every time we play the Islanders, it’s always a hard-fought game, It’s always an emotional game. We wouldn’t expect anything different.
” That postulate was validated Saturday as the Islanders defeated the Penguins, 6-3, at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. It was the Penguins’ fourth consecutive loss to the Metropolitan Division rival (0-2-2).
The Islanders opened the scoring 14 minutes, 47 seconds into regulation when forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded his eighth goal of the season. After Pageau won a draw in the Penguins’ right circle against forward Sidney Crosby, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal took possession in the circle, curled around toward the high slot and then backtracked a bit to shake free of Penguins forward Rickard Rakell. With a bit of space, Barzal chucked the puck to the left side of the crease where Pageau knocked the puck dead and swatted in a forehand shot that clunked off goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker and bounced into the cage on the near side.
Penguins forward Michael Bunting responded with his 10th goal during a power-play sequence at 16:03 of the opening frame. Under pressure from Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov, Crosby lost possession of the puck in New York’s right circle. Rakell tried to provide support and claim the puck at the right dot but ended up kicking it forward, allowing Bunting to grip and rip a wrister from the lower rim of the circle to the far side, beating goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s blocker on the far side where it rung off the post and deflected into the cage.
Islanders forward Anthony Duclair’s third goal came 5:39 into the second period. Off a two-on-one rush against Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea, Duclair sizzled a wrister by Jarry’s blocker. Almost three minutes later, Islanders forward Anders Lee scored his 14th goal at the 8:36 mark.
Taking a pass at the center point of the offensive zone, Romanov golfed a one-timer into a mass of humanity in the crease. Lee appeared to inadvertently deflect the puck wide to the right of the cage. As he skated backward along with the puck, he shuffled a forehand shot into the blue paint that was initially blocked by the stick of Penguins defenseman Kris Letang who wound up directing the rebound into his own cage.
The Islanders went up by a field goal 63 seconds later via forward Casey Cizikas’ second goal, which came off a deflection from the Penguins’ right circle. Penguins forward Noel Acciari’s fourth goal came at 13:49 of the second period. From New York’s left corner, Penguins forward Blake Lizotte dished a pass to Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson above the near circle.
Surveying the scene for a moment, Karlsson snapped a wrister toward a phalanx of bodies above the crease. Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson appeared to block that shot but fell on top of Sorokin in the process. That jarred the puck free in the blue paint, and Acciari cleaned it up with an easy forehand shot.
Rakell’s team-best 17th goal almost came at the last second of the second frame (the 19:56 mark, to be precise). From the Islanders’ left point, Matt Grzelcyk chipped a bouncing puck toward the cage. Stationed between the hashmarks, Rakell managed to get his stick blade on the puck and sent a deflection through Dobson’s legs and past Sorokin’s glove.
Cizikas cushioned his team’s advantage with another goal at 14:43 of the third period. Lee capped the scoring with an empty net goal at 19:38 of the final frame. Jarry’s record tumbled to 8-6-2 after he unofficially made 29 saves on 34 shots.
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