The Pittsburgh Penguins made it interesting but couldn't hold on in an overtime loss to the New York Islanders.

PITTSBURGH – The time for celebration was over, and the Pittsburgh Penguins needed to quickly pivot their focus to buckling down and making one last push to get back into the playoff race. A key matchup against Metropolitan Division rival New York Islanders is a great way to start things.

The Penguins were rolling with Alex Nedeljkovic between the pipes as their lineup saw massive changes.

First Period

Those changes didn’t bring much luck for the Penguins in the early going, but Nedeljkovic made a few key saves.

Just past the period's midway point, the Penguins began to find their footing and started buzzing in the Islanders’ zone. A rocket of a shot from Erik Karlsson was stopped but found its way to Marcus Pettersson, who dropped to one knee for a perfect one-time shot.

Pettersson gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead, and Karlsson was credited with an assist, which was good for his 800^th career point. Rickard Rakell also factored in on the tally, giving all three Swedish natives on the roster a point.

The Penguins carried that lead into the first intermission but would need more to have a chance going forward.

Second Period

Like clockwork, the Islanders scored early in the second frame to knot the game. Brock Nelson usually plays well against the Penguins and showed that off by dancing both Karlsson and Pettersson for the Islanders’ first of the night.

It wouldn’t be long before the Islanders found their second goal. The Penguins were given a power play opportunity but wasted most of the time passing the puck rather than firing shots at the net. The overpassing eventually led to the puck finding Mat Barzal breaking out of the penalty box. Barzal didn’t miss and gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

The Islanders quickly notched a third goal when Oliver Wahlstrom beat Karlsson to a loose puck and tucked it under Nedeljkovic.

Despite a deflating three unanswered goals in some of the ugliest ways, the Penguins proved to still have some life in them. A harmless puck on net from Lars Eller deflected off an Islanders' defender and passed Sorokin. The Islanders challenged for a hand pass, but no infraction was found.

The Penguins saw their lead slip away, but not all hope was lost heading into the final frame.

Third Period

To open the third period, the Penguins had about a minute and a half of power play time, but they didn't convert.

The following minutes seemed evenly matched until the Islanders made it a 4-2 contest. Defenseman Mike Reilly pinned a perfectly placed shot over Nedeljkovic.

Once again, though, the Penguins showed to have a pulse as Valtteri Puustinen slammed home a rebound chance. Moments later, Drew O'Connor bounced a puck off an Islanders' captain, Anders Lee, to tie that game.

The Penguins answered back from being down 3-1, widely known as hockey's worst lead. The clock reached a minute remaining in regulation with the score tied at four all.

After 60 minutes of hockey, this barn burner of a game wasn't settled and an overtime period was needed.

Overtime

The Islanders entered this overtime period with more extra frames than any team in the NHL with a whopping 20.

It didn't take the Islanders long to notch the game winner as a perfect shot from Adam Pelech beat Nedeljkovic to seal the win over the Penguins.

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