Takeaways: Islanders Can’t Complete Comeback in 3-2 Loss to Penguins

The New York Islanders could not complete a sweep of their back-to-back, home-and-home set with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as they fell 3-2 in Sunday’s rematch at PPG Paints Arena.

Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored late third period goals, but it was not enough to climb out of a 3-0 deficit on goals by Anthony Beauvillier, Michael Bunting (PPG, A) and Evgeni Malkin (PPG).

Marcus Hogberg stopped 38-of-41 shots in his first start as an Islander, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29-of-31 shots.

With the loss, the Islanders lost the ground they made up in the standings with Saturday’s win and currently sit four points back of the Penguins.

“This win one, lose one thing's not going to do us any favors here going forward,” Horvat said. “If we continue to do this, we're not going to move up the standings, so it's on us in here to get the ball rolling here.”

LATE COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT:

Fresh off a 6-3 win on Saturday night, the Islanders momentum did not carry into Sunday’s rematch, with Beauvillier burying a backdoor feed from Bunting at the 3:54 mark to open the scoring. Neither team generated much with six shots apiece in the opening frame, but the second period opened up for both teams, with Pittsburgh outshooting the Islanders 20-15 in the middle frame.

The Penguins controlled the first half of the period, outshooting the Isles 13-2 before the first TV timeout, with Bunting netting a power-play goal at 1:36, finding a soft spot in the slot to bury a feed from Sidney Crosby. That started the onslaught of shots, with Head Coach Patrick Roy saying he thought his squad was not mentally strong enough after the goal.

“I thought that we were affected by it,” Roy said of the 2-0 goal. “I didn't think we'd competed like we were capable of yesterday.”

The Isles closed the shot gap late in the second period and had some of their best looks of the game on a late power play. Nedeljkovic was the difference, stopping one-timers from Simon Holmstrom and Mathew Barzal, and gloving an Anthony Duclair shot from the slot.

Pittsburgh extended their lead to 3-0 with their second power-play goal at 6:57 of the third period, as Philip Tomasino’s shot deflected off Malkin and then Alexander Romanov in the final seconds of a Kyle MacLean cross-checking minor.

The Islanders made it interesting with a pair of six-on-five goals late in the third. Lee broke Nedeljkovic’s shutout bid with seven minutes to play in the third period, deflecting a Romanov point shot for his team-leading 16^th of the season and third goal in two games. Horvat made it a one-goal game, as his initial shot was stopped by Nedeljkovic, but deflected off Ryan Graves – who was tangled up with Lee – with 3:50 to play. That was as close as the Islanders came.

“It took us too long to get going,” JG Pageau said. “Too many turnovers from the start that fed them and that's how they were able to get some zone time and get some momentum. Once we start going in the third you could tell that it was changing side, and unfortunately, we waited too long to get going.”

HOGBERG SOLID IN FIRST START WITH ISLES:

All eyes were on Marcus Hogberg Sunday, as the Swedish goaltender made his first NHL start since Apr. 28, 2021 – stopping 38 of 41 shots.

Hogberg was solid in his first start, as it was hard to pin any of the Penguins’ three goals – a backdoor feed and two power-play goals, including a deflection off a defenseman’s leg.

“He was outstanding,” Roy said. “I don't think we played well in front of him. I mean defensively we gave up 40 shots or something. That's too many shots, in my opinion.”

Initially, the Islanders formed a shell around their netminder, holding Pittsburgh to six shots – including just three in the final 16 minutes – in the first period. Beauviller’s backdoor feed was the lone puck to beat him in the opening period, though the netminder could hardly be blamed.

The Penguins poured the pressure on in the second period, outshooting the Isles 13-2 by the first TV timeout. Hogberg allowed a quick power-play strike to Bunting from the low slot, but kept the game at 2-0 with a breakaway save on Bryan Rust shortly after. That was the first of three grade-A stops on Rust, who Hogberg also stretched out to rob with the blocker on a power play, as well as a paddle save late with Isles down 3-2. Hogberg also denied Crosby on a breakaway for another highlight reel save.

Hogberg said he felt good in his first NHL start in over three-and-a-half years.

“Maybe a little bit rusty in the beginning, but at the beginning of the second period, I got into the game more,” Hogberg said. “Overall, it was fun to play, but tough that we lost.”

ODDS AND ENDS:

• Hogberg’s start was the first time 215 games that someone other than Ilya Sorokin or Semyon Varlamov had started for the Islanders. It marked just the second time in the past 339 games a goaltender not named Ilya Sorokin or Semyon Varlamov started for the Isles (Cory Schneider at NJD on Apr. 3, 2022 being the other).
• Sidney Crosby recorded his 1,034^th career assist on Bunting’s power-play goal in the second period, which moved him ahead of Mario Lemieux and into the top spot in Penguins franchise history.
• Bunting has recorded a goal in all three Isles-Pens matchups this season.

LINEUP NOTES:

Marcus Hogberg starting in goal was the lone lineup change for the Islanders.

Kris Letang was a late scratch for the Penguins, as the defenseman was out with a lower-body injury. Nate Clurman drew into the lineup for Letang, making his NHL debut.

NOTABLE QUOTE:

Patrick Roy on his team’s mentality after the 2-0 goal:

“After we gave up that second goal, we were not mentally strong enough. It's just a goal. I mean, we were down two. In this league two goals, it's nothing. We proved it with seven minutes [left]… You can come back in those games and sometimes I just feel we don't believe enough in that.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up 2024 in Toronto as they take on the Maple Leafs in a New Year’s Eve matinee. Puck drop is at 1 p.m.