5 Takeaways: Islanders Fall Short in Season-Series Finale Against Pens

The final regular season meeting between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins came to an end as Pittsburgh handed the Islanders a 2-1 loss - their second in as many games - on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena. Both teams showcased another competitive and tight-checking contest, in theme with the majority of their meetings this season, but the Penguins ultimately held the edge in the season series with a 6-2-0 record. The Islanders finished 2-4-2 vs the Pens.

Pittsburgh's productive start proved to outlast the Islanders' attempted comeback and inability to capitalize on their chances. The Penguins executed a two-goal first period with a power-play strike from Anthony Angello and an even-strength tally from Jared McCann. Tristan Jarry was the starting netminder for the Pens, but did not return after his perfect five-for-five save first period. Casey DeSmith played the remaining 40 minutes and made 19 saves on 20 shots in the win.
Matt Martin scored the Islanders sole goal of the game on the power play in the second period, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 20-of-22 shots.
"We talk about being ready to go and we just didn't start really on time," Head Coach Barry Trotz said of the loss. "We've done things that have cost us...Second and third period, I thought we were pretty good. I didn't think they had anything after the first period. When I look at the chances, they had 10 or 11 chances from my count and seven in the first period. Rest of the game I thought we did a pretty good job, but we fell short and that's the bottom line."
Here are five takeaways from the Islanders' 2-1 loss:

SLOW START STIFLES CHANCE TO COME BACK

For the fourth-straight game, the Islanders didn't put themselves in a position for success as they found themselves chasing the game, once again, following the first 20 minutes of play.
"We're not getting off to the best of starts," Martin said. "We have a lot of character in the room. We eventually get to our game, find our game and there's no quit in our game, but it's not a recipe for success in this league to play from behind."
The Pens got off to a hot start with a two-goal first period in which they bookended the frame with goals. The Pens got on the board 4:24 into the period on the power play, as Ross Johnston took an offensive zone slashing penalty. Penguins blueliner John Marino entered the zone and charged to the net before flicking the puck from behind the cage past the short-side post. Angelo crashed the crease and buried the feed far-side for the power-play tally.
The Penguins dictated the rest of the period with a 9-5 shot advantage. They doubled their lead in the final two minutes of play on a four-on-four sequence. The Pens still made the most of the opportunity as Marino picked up his second assist of the night capitalizing on a poor Islanders' line change. Marino entered the nearly vacant Islanders zone with speed and zipped the puck to the low slot for a crashing McCann to bury on the fly.
"[Pittsburgh's] second goal was four-on-four and a horrible line change," Trotz said. "A couple of forwards who jumped off. We left our back end and one of our D jumped off as well and we changed three guys when they had possession at the red line. That cost us the second goal. You can't change in that position from D standpoint and only want to change one forward, but the D have to hold and live to fight another day and we didn't do it, they capitalized on it."
The second period began nearly identical for the Islanders as their game against Boston on Thursday night, where they were down 2-0 to start the second period and faced a different netminder than the one who started the game. The main difference being, unlike on Thursday against Boston, the Islanders weren't able to decode DeSmith, who was filling in for Jarry, who left the game.
The Islanders tested DeSmith early and feverishly, in what was their best period of the game where they ultimately executed a solid effort with their 14-6 shot advantage and their sole goal. The Islanders picked up their intensity and were much more active in the offensive zone. Their push was awarded as they cut the deficit down 2-1 at 9:22 with Martin's power-play goal.
After their second sequence of four-on-four hockey, the Islanders continued their push and Jordan Eberle drew a tripping penalty to put his team on the man advantage at 8:30. On the Islanders power play, Mathew Barzal spun off Pens forward Zach Aston-Reese at Pittsburgh's blueline and jetted up ice where he tossed a pass mid-air to Martin for the doorstep tip-in goal at 9:22.

The Islanders began the third period with 1:30 on the power play from a Mike Matheson penalty, but didn't convert. Once returning to even-strength, the Penguins began to amplify their offense and crafted some Grade A chances, which Varlamov came up with some big saves. While Pittsburgh dominated most of the period and showcased stifling defense, the Islanders mounted a solid response in the final few minutes of play.
The Islanders made the most of some extended zone possessions to test DeSmith with some strong chances and scrums around the net front, but were denied. Even after pulling Varlamov in exchange for the extra attacker with just under two-minutes to play, the Islanders were never able to overcome their slow start and would have to depart from the Steel City with 0-of-4 points.

VARLAMOV GETS THE START

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Martin's Power-Play Goal
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After relinquishing two first-period goals, Varlamov was much sharper in the remaining 40 minutes of play as he made his 24th start of the season. The Islanders netminder made some timely saves in the Islanders dominant second period following their power-play strike. Pittsburgh responded with a few promising chances in hopes of diminishing the Islanders buzz and building some momentum of their own, but Varlamov stood tall, especially on a Bryan Rust attempt in tight that occurred shortly after the Islanders got their first goal of the night.
Seven minutes into the third period, Varlamov stoned a sequence of scoring chances on a Pens rush as Jason Zucker fired a backhand on net and Evan Rodrigues attempted to bury Varlamov's initial save, which he also came up with a sturdy stop for.
Unfortunately, the shaky first period was enough to seal Pittsburgh's win. Varlamov's record is now 14-7-3.

MARTIN MAKING MOST OF POWER-PLAY TIME

With the absence of Anders Lee, who will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing ACL surgery, the Islanders power play has seen a new look around the net front with Martin occupying Lee's office. Martin is embracing opportunity and responsibility on one of the Islanders' power-play units.
Martin, who has a similar build as Lee with his 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame, scored his sixth goal of the season and his first power-play goal since March 5, 2013.
Earlier in Martin's career he was a more consistent fixture on the Islanders power play unit, in his NHL debut he recorded two-power play assists. But in the later years of his 12-year NHL career, the winger's appearances on the man advantage have become fewer and fewer prior to Lee's injury.

JOHNSTON JOINS LINEUP

For the first time since Jan. 26, Ross Johnston returned to the Islanders lineup. The winger skated in place of Kieffer Bellows and slotted in alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom. With Johnston skating on Pageau's line, Anthony Beauvillier was reunited with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey, whom he had started the season with, but had spent the last four games alongside Pageau and Wahlstrom.
"I thought [Beauvillier] going with [Nelson], they've always been a pretty good line," Trotz said of the line changes. "[Beauvillier] gives [Nelson and Bailey] a little more pop. I felt we needed a little more forecheck and more net presence and that's where Ross Johnston came in and I thought he did a good job. The physical part, I think he had six hits tonight. He got to the net a couple of times and he was hard to handle. That line was good, [Wahlstrom] had some chances, three or four shots. [Pageau] had a great chance off the side of the net in the second, we could have had it tied up there, but we didn't get it done."
Johnston played 10:50, took one penalty, fired off two shots and threw a game-high of six hits.

HEADED HOME AFTER FINAL GAME OF MARCH

With back-to-back losses at Pittsburgh, Saturday marked the Islanders final game of their four-game road trip as well as their final game in the month of march.
The Islanders ended the road trip with a 2-2-0 split and with both of their wins coming in overtime. It was a busy month for the Islanders, who played 15 games in 31 days - including two back-to-back sets. The team spent eight games on the road, and was home for seven games. The highlight of the month was the return of fans at Nassau Coliseum for the first time in over a calendar year, which commenced on March 11.
While it was a tiring month, the Islanders finished it was an 11-4-0 record. Their 11 wins matched the previous record for wins in March dating back to the 1981-82 season.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return home to Nassau Coliseum for a six-game home stand as they host the Washington Capitals on Thursday, April. 1. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.