Penguins defeat Islanders in shootout, extend point streak to four

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Casey DeSmith made 25 saves, including three in overtime, to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 shootout win against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Monday.

Derick Brassard scored for Pittsburgh (13-10-6), which killed a penalty in overtime and extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1).
"There was a lot of adversity," said DeSmith, who is 6-1-1 in his past eight starts. "We had to kill a lot of penalties tonight. There was a lot of emotion in the building. Taking that penalty in overtime took everybody to kill that off, a lot of blocked shots.
"I think everybody has been finding ways to win and finding ways to keep the puck out of our net and put the puck in their net instead of making] bad mistakes and finding ways to beat yourself almost. We've definitely turned a corner."
***[WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Islanders highlights]*
Anthony Beauvillier scored, and Robin Lehner made 23 saves for New York (14-11-4).
"You've got to stay positive," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "It's a shootout loss. Obviously you lose a point, that's what you're frustrated about. But when it comes down to [a shootout], you've got to look at how we played the game. Shootouts aren't in (the Stanley Cup) playoffs; you don't see any of that. Right now, we've got to look at how we played."
Beauvillier gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the second period when he one-timed Josh Bailey's feed after Brassard turned the puck over to Mathew Barzal.

The Penguins tied it 2:13 into the third period when Scott Mayfield turned the puck over in the slot to Jake Guentzel, who found Brassard at the side of the net for a tap-in to make it 1-1.
The Islanders were awarded a power play with 2:48 left in overtime when Valtteri Filppula was tripped by Brassard near his own net. Ryan Pulock had three shots blocked during the man-advantage and another that was saved by DeSmith, who lost his stick on the play and was without it for the ensuing 35 seconds.
"It is frustrating," Pulock said. "I was just trying to get them out of there a little bit so it opened up some space. They made a couple of good blocks.
"It's tough. Maybe we could have done a little better of job of trying to use that to our advantage. We just learn from that situation, work on it and when we get that chance again, find a way to get it done."
Phil Kessel scored in the first round of the shootout before Bailey tied it in the third. Guentzel won it for Pittsburgh in the fifth. It was the Penguins' first shootout victory in three tries this season.

"It's a huge kill in overtime, obviously," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's the difference in the game. It was a hard-fought game, there wasn't a lot of room out there. That kill was huge. There were some blocked shots by Zach (Aston-Reese), by [Bryan Rust], Jack Johnson did a terrific job. Casey was there when we didn't block the shots. All the guys that were out there did a terrific job."
DeSmith kept it a one-goal game when he managed to get his pad on Leo Komarov's one-timer from point-blank range at 13:57 of the second.
Lehner stretched across the crease to make a right pad save on Kessel's backhand attempt at 2:29 of the first period.
"He's played pretty well the last couple of outings," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of Lehner, who has allowed two goals on 60 shots in his past two games. "He played well. I thought he made some real good saves early at key moments."
The Islanders were shorthanded for the final four minutes of the first after Lee received a double minor high-sticking penalty. The Penguins were limited to two shots during the extended power play.
Each team went 0-for-4 with the man-advantage.

They said it

"It's easy to win a game 6-1 at home. It's a lot harder to win a game 2-1 on the road in a building with a lot of energy, a lot of penalties, stuff like that. It's all stuff that goes into making a game challenging and I thought we did a great job battling all of that." -- Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith
"We want to win. The point's big for sure, but we want two every night. It's frustrating when you can't get that done, but I thought we did a pretty good job most of the night. We've just got to find that one more goal, which we weren't able to do." -- Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock

Need to know

Islanders forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Jordan Eberle each left the game in the third period because of an undisclosed injury. Trotz did not have an update after the game. … New York defenseman Thomas Hickey also left in the third period after being struck in the helmet by Evgeni Malkin's slap shot but was able to return. … Islanders forward Joshua Ho-Sang, recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Sunday, participated in warmups but was a healthy scratch.

What's next

Penguins: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS)
Islanders:Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (Barclays Center; 7 p.m. ET; MSG+, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)