The New York Islanders rebounded well from the 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh last week, beating Washington, but they needed a second rebound last night in Pitt and didn't get it.

The New York Islanders rebounded well from the 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh last week, beating Washington, but they needed a second rebound last night in Pitt and didn't get it. 

But it was not for lack of effort, not a bit. The 3-1 loss -- actually a 2-1 -- was all because Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic played an out-of-his-mind game, and that was that. 

Coach Lane Lambert's shooters poured 38 shots at him, and Big Al made 37 saves. A key in the end was a 14-shot New York barrage in the first period that went for naught.

"We played well enough to win," Lambert insisted, "and we had some good looks. But  we couldn't get it past their goalie."

True enough. the Blue & Orange came out hard and determined not to lose a second straight game to Sidney Crosby's sextet, but a foiled Casey Cizikas breakaway early on symbolized the Isles failed luck. 

"It was a tight game the entire time," Casey explained after returning to the lineup along with defenseman Scott Mayfield. According to Lambert, Mayfield played a solid game, showing no rust over 17:23 of action.

"We just didn't get the bounces," Mayfield asserted.

They also didn't get the face-off edge.

Uncharacteristically, the Visitors won only 38 percent of the draws. In what amounted to a "four-point" game, that's a difference-maker.

"We didn't do enough in the circles," added Lambert, and no more needed to be said about that deficiency. 

Lars Eller's first-period red light and Noel Acciary's in the second were all the home team required as Pitt moved right back into the playoff mix.

The Isles made it close late in the third while trailing 2-0 when young defender Sam Bolduc slammed one home, his first of the season. They pressed for the tying goal, pulling Ilya Sorokin at the end, but Lars Eller's empty-netter closed the door on a comeback.

Clearly, some attention must be paid to restoring the club's equilibrium. The first move was benching Pierre Engvall, who had gone ten games with no points. 

The return of Mayfield meant that stopgap Robert Bortuzzo was sidelined. 

Another concern will be whether -- or when -- sidelined Semyon Varlamov will return. 

But goaltending was not the issue in Penguinland. Sorokin was his usual solid self, it just was a case of a hot goalie at the other end and Lady Luck frowning on the Orange and Blue shooters.

In a screaming' meemies playoff race where every point seems more enormous than it appears, the Isles resume their four-game road trip tomorrow night against the Avalanche in Denver.     

Their hope is to rediscover the scoring that didn't click last night and to play a tight defense against high-scoring Colorado.

"We played a good game," Cizikas concluded. But, in the end, "good" was not good enough!