5 Takeaways: Islanders Battle in 4-3 OT Loss to Penguins

The New York Islanders earned a valuable point, but fell 4-3 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum in the first leg of their back-to-back set against each other this weekend.
The Islanders received a power-play goal from Brock Nelson and second-period strikes from Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey in the OT loss. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves.
Despite missing out on picking up two points, the Islanders were overall content with their play - especially at even strength - and are eager for their next opportunity tomorrow night to take on Pittsburgh for the sixth time this season.

"We had opportunities to pull away a little bit and we weren't able to," Head Coach Barry Trotz said postgame. "You just collect points and at the end of the day, you hope you have enough. Plain and simple, you can't dwell on it too much...At the end of the day, we took too many penalties. We play five on five, we're in pretty good shape. We'll just get back at it tomorrow and see if we can get two. Obviously, we'd like to get two every game - especially against the Penguins - since we felt we should have gotten some points last time."
It was a deja-vu performance from Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang on Saturday night, who replicated another two-goal performance - including the game-winner - just as he done on Feb. 20 in the Pens' 3-2 win. The Penguins also received goals from Sidney Crosby - in the second period on the power play and - and a third-period strike from Jared McCann.
ISLANDERS VS PENGUINS
ISLANDERS PENGUINS ARTICLES
Gamecenter
ISLANDERS PENGUINS VIDEO
Full Highlights
Nelson's Power-Play Goal
Barzal's Centering Feed
Tic-Tac-Bailey
KINGER'S CALLS
Nelson's Power-Play Goal
Barzal Passes In
Bailey's Tic-Tac-Toe
Overtime was fitting given the well-matched and hard-fought battle that took place between the two East Division rivals. The fifth meeting of the season - and of this month - was one of the fiercest yet.
Here are five takeaways from the Islanders overtime loss:

FIERCE FIFTH MEETING

The first period featured well-matched play from both sides, who each generated chances in spurts opposed to a skewed period of one-sided domination. Both sides exchanged Grade-A opportunities, but the Islanders were ultimately the first to get on the scoreboard as they converted on their first power play of the game - a nice reward after killing off two previous Pittsburgh penalties at 5:12 and 15:37.
Following a few zone cycles, Oliver Wahlstrom opted not to rip his wicked one-timer from the left faceoff circle and instead, fed a perfect cross-slot pass to Nelson for the tip-in on the backdoor at 18:07.
Early in the second period - at 1:34 - the Islanders doubled their lead to 2-0 as Barzal scored his eighth goal of the season from a sharp angle. Barzal's intended feed to Lee on the doorstep redirected off of Penguins defenseman John Marino's stick and sneaked past Jarry's left arm and the goalpost.
The Islanders' lead was short lived as the Penguins countered with two goals scored by Crosby and Letang in a 26-second span. Crosby cut the Pens' deficit down to one goal at 2:17 as the team's captain converted on their third power play of the game after Wahlstrom took a boarding penalty at 2:11.
On the Penguins power play, Crosby sent a clapper into a largely open Islanders' net at 2:17 as Varlamov lost his stance slipping on some chipped ice inside his crease. Just 26 seconds later, Letang scored the Penguins equalizer.
Kasperi Kapanen circled behind the cage and played Letang at the right faceoff circle.
The Pittsburgh defenseman sent his shot to the far side and beat Varlamov blocker side.
While the Islanders started the period off strong, Pittsburgh dominated a large portion of it especially after tying the score 2-2. The Pens were dictating most of the play and had held a 10-4 shots on goal edge with five minutes left in the period, when the Islanders broke through on their best shift to that point.
The Beauvillier, Nelson, Bailey line executed a turning-point shift that restored the Islanders lead. After forechecking to retrieve a puck, the line set up a slick tic-tac-toe passing sequence from Nelson to Beauvillier to Bailey for his one-timer in the slot and the Islanders' third goal of the game.
The goal revived the Islanders post and they smothered the Penguins the remainder of the period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau nearly gave the Islanders 4-2 lead in the final two minutes of play, but Jarry's far post came to the rescue on Pageau's attempt.
The Penguins exchanged the favor with a quick-strike to start the third period. The Pens evened the score 3-3 on an odd-man rush as Pens forward Evgeni Malkin made a pass for himself along the wall and sprinted up ice. Malkin drew-in a backskating Ryan Pulock before feeding a streaking Jared McCann down the left side. McCann beat Varlamov with a low shot blocker side. It was the first game back for the Penguins forward since Feb. 6 where McCann sustained a lower-body injury against the Islanders.
Both teams played a neck-and-neck game in overtime and both sides played with immense composure as they tried to not make a costly mistake. Much like the trajectory of the chess-match battle that had ensued in the 60 minutes prior to overtime, it was only fitting that it took until there were only 26 seconds remaining of overtime for the game winner to be reached.
Letang ultimately clinched the victory for Pittsburgh as the blueliner skated nearly coast-to-coast and beat Varlamov with a sneaky wrist shot that he sent through the legs of Pageau.

BIG NIGHT FOR BEAUVILLIER-NELSON-BAILEY LINE

Video: Penguins, 4 - Islanders, 3
Following Thursday's 7-2 rout over Boston, in which Anthony Beauvillier scored his first goal of the season, Trotz commended the solid play from the trio of Beauvillier, Nelson and Bailey and noted he hoped they would continue building to the previous successes they've had as a line.
The trio started the season together, but were separated for nearly a month as a result of Beauvillier's nine-game absence with a lower-body injury from Jan. 24 to Feb. 16. Against the Penguins, the line showcased arguably their most dominant game of the season and showed some dynamic stretches at the level of play that Trotz expects from them individually and as a threesome.
"I thought their line was big tonight," Trotz said. "They were really moving. I like the way they supported the puck, they were on top of people, they were making plays and they got opportunities. They were a real strong line for us no question."
With goals from Nelson and Bailey, the entirety of the trio was buzzing. The trio combined for nine shots on goal and . Nelson's power-play scoring tear as the center scored his sixth goal of the season and fifth on the power play. With Clutterbuck sidelined, Nelson received the nice nod of having the 'A' stitched on his jersey. Bailey's goal was his second of the season and Beauvillier's assist was his third of the season and second point (1G, 1A) in as many games.

'SOLID' GAME FOR VARLAMOV

Varlamov has frequently been the backbone for the Islanders this season and been a huge help factor in keeping his team engaged and in a position to reach success. Against the Penguins, Varlamov displayed another strong effort as he made his fifth-straight and 16th start of the season.
"He's been the reason we've won a number of games," Trotz said. "He's solid for us. Tonight, I think it was the second goal, was probably one that he'd like to seal the ice on. Those don't usually go by him, but that got by him. But he's been solid for us for so long. They have the toughest position in the game, pucks, traffic. I thought he was always solid for us."
Namely in the second period as Pittsburgh got on the board with two goals in under a minute, the Islanders netminder put forth a dominant response and made the timely saves needed. Having just evened the score 2-2, the Penguins returned on their fourth power play of the game as Barzal took his second penalty of the night 6:33 into the middle frame. Both of the Penguins power play units challenged Varlamov with an abundance of action, but Varlamov was an acrobat in his crease.
And as the score was tied once more 3-3 in the third period and both teams jockeyed for precious time and space, Varlamov stood strong especially as Pittsburgh increased their shooting game and took an 11-6 shot on goal edge as regulation play expired.
In the waning few minutes of overtime, Varlamov made consecutive huge stops. The Russian netminder made a pad save as Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson attempted to jam in a puck in tight near the post. On the next shift and on a two-on-one rush Varlamov denied a wrist shot from Kasperi Kapanen. To cap off a strong sequence from the goaltender, Varlamov made a highlight-reel glove save on Crosby's signature knee-drop one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
Varlamov appeared to be screened on the game-winner, as Letang put a shot through Pageau's legs.

DAL COLLE RETURNS, CLUTTERBUCK MISSES FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON

After missing four-straight games with a lower-body injury which he sustained on Feb. 16 against Buffalo, Dal Colle returned to the lineup. The 24-year-old logged 10:00 TOI and threw two hits.
The injury was unfortunate as Dal Colle had strung together six-straight games in the lineup from Feb. 6 to Feb. 16 and compiled two assists in that span. Trotz had been very complimentary of the winger's play during that stretch.
Fortunately, the injury wasn't too severe and Dal Colle was able to return to the lineup on Saturday where he skated alongside Pageau and Wahlstrom.
Cal Clutterbuck missed his first game of the season after sustaining an injury in the first period against Boston on Thursday. Clutterbuck was listed as a game-time decision against the Pens, but did not play. In his place, Leo Komarov, skated alongside Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin.
Komarov logged 12:54 TOI, including 3:46 time on the penalty kill, and had one block.

HOME RECORD STAYS INTACT

Despite losing out on the extra point, the Islanders are the still sole team in the NHL that have yet to give up a regulation loss at home. The team now has earned points in their first eight games of the season (6-0-2).
Heading into Saturday's game, their 13 points (6-0-1) through seven games marked the most since the 1982-83 season when the Islanders opened up the season 7-0-0 on home ice.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders and Penguins are back in action tomorrow night at Nassau Coliseum for the second leg of their back-to-back set and for their sixth meeting this month. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.