The Pittsburgh Penguins again couldn't get it done against the New York Islanders, eating a 4-2 loss.
PITTSBURGH - It doesn’t need to be said too many times, but every game left on the schedule is going to be important for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Their third contest against the New York Islanders was no different, and the Penguins didn’t have any excuses for an off night.
Tristan Jarry was making his return to the lineup and the Islanders were going to be without Mat Barzal.
The Penguins knew they needed to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them, and they got off to a good start.
The top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Rickard Rakell worked some magic to take an early lead.
A bit of a knuckling pass from Crosby worked its way to Guentzel who had the entire net to work with.
The period ended 1-0, and the Penguins skaters did a good job of keeping the shots away from Jarry.
The Islanders only recorded seven shots on goal through the first 20 minutes while the Penguins had quite a few shifts with sustained time in the offensive zone.
The Penguins needed to follow their dominant first up with a strong start to the second but could do so.
Another power play slipped by for the Penguins as that indirectly led the Islanders knotting the game at one.
Despite how bad the Penguins power play has been since returning from the All-Star break (2-19 heading into the game) they got the job done to reclaim the lead.
An absolute blast from Jeff Petry at the point bounced to Jason Zucker who barely squibbed it over the goal line.
As the minutes ran down on the period, Zucker continued to be the center of attention as a massive melee between the Islanders that wrapped with 44 penalty minutes between the teams.
To no one’s surprise, it was Matt Martin and other Islanders fourth liners that were going after the Penguins top players.
Zucker and Johnston were both given roughing and unsportsmanlike minors as well as 10 minute misconducts.
Penalty minutes aside, the Penguins were maintaining a huge lead in shots, but it was only a one-goal contest heading into the third.
The Islanders secured the equalizer just before the midway point of the period, then the lead shortly after.
The third period was much more of an offensive struggle for the Penguins as they went well over half of the frame without a shot on goal.
Even as the shots started piling on for the Penguins, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin continued to stand on his head.
The Islanders potted an empty netter to make the score 4-2 and that's where things would be left.
The Penguins have no taken nine straight losses to Metropolitan Division opponents and the trade deadline is within days.
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