Second-period lull hurts Penguins, as they return from Christmas break with loss to Islanders

Jason Mackey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 28, 2024

Published in Hockey

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More consistent and thorough efforts had allowed the Penguins to bank important points before the NHL’s Christmas break. Coming out of the annual respite, however, a second-period lull on Saturday cost them.

The Penguins allowed three goals in four minutes to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena and could not recover, suffering a 6-3 loss in the first half of a home-and-home set with a division rival.

The game was the Penguins’ first since Monday’s 7-3 throttling of the Flyers, which helped Pittsburgh improve to 9-3-1 since Thanksgiving Eve, a run that has resuscitated what once looked like a lost season.

The Penguins struggled to start the middle period — losing puck battles, standing around in the defensive zone and largely getting out-worked — and paid the price by creating a deficit too large to overcome.

The first Islanders goal came at 5:39, when left wing Anthony Duclair finished a beautiful two-on-one feed from right wing Kyle Palmieri. While Tristan Jarry could’ve been quicker moving laterally, the more frustrating gaffe came next.

Following left wing Anders Lee’s rebound attempt, Kris Letang inadvertently stuffed the puck into his own goal at 8:36. Center Casey Cizikas made it 4-1 at 9:39 with a nifty redirect.

At that point, it felt like the Penguins were finished. But Noel Acciari gave them some life when the rebound of Matt Nieto’s shot squirted between goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s legs. Acciari whacked home the rebound at 13:49.

Rickard Rakell cut the Islanders’ lead to 4-3 with his 17th of the season at 19:56 of the period, the forward’s mid-range redirect eluding Sorokin seconds before the horn sounded.

While the Penguins recovered during the second half of the middle period, they could not carry that momentum over to the third, mustering just one shot through the first 14-plus minutes of the final period.

Cizikas notched his second of the night when he picked up a puck in the neutral zone and beat Jarry at 14:43 of the third before Lee tacked on an empty-net goal late.

The power play has been a driving force behind the Penguins’ success of late, clicking at 30.8% (12 for 39) prior to Saturday, and that’s how Pittsburgh got its first of the night.

Michael Bunting picked up a puck in the right circle, spun and scored at 16:03 of the first after drawing an interference penalty on Cizikas.

The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 lead at 14:47 of the first when center Mathew Barzal created some space in the high slot before finding right wing Jean-Gabriel Pageau alone at the far post.

Saturday’s loss dropped the Penguins (16-16-5) to 6-5-4 in their past 15 games against the Islanders.

Ice chips

— Pittsburgh’s first goal featured a sizable tease. An assist was originally credited to Sidney Crosby, which for a few minutes moved him past Mario Lemieux for the most helpers in franchise history with 1,034. However, it was later changed and credited to Rakell.

— Marcus Pettersson, who’s been out since Dec. 14 with a lower-body injury, was cleared for contact and participated in Saturday’s morning skate, which likely means he’s close to rejoining the team for game action.

— It appeared the Islanders scored at 4:59 of the first, but the Penguins successfully challenged for goaltender interference. That wiped out center Brock Nelson’s wrister from the right circle because Duclair had made contact with Jarry. The Penguins have won four of five challenges this season.

— One of the referees Saturday was also named Mike Sullivan. It marked the first time in NHL history an on-ice official and head coach had the same name.

— No surprise the Penguins bested the Islanders’ penalty kill for their first of the night. New York came into Saturday’s game operating at just 64.4%, last in the NHL.

— Despite a slow start (one assist in 12 games), no Penguin has more power-play goals this season than Bunting (6).

Coming up

The Penguins return home to host the Islanders for the second half of this home-and-home set on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is set for 5:30 p.m.