Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored, and Tristan Jarry made 37 saves for the Penguins (19-10-5).
"One of the things we talked about was playing straight ahead early on," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "Simplifying the game, especially after coming off a break. We know that our experience usually tells us that it takes a little bit after having a few days off like that. We wanted to simplify the game and play straight ahead. We did none of the above."
Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 1:03 into the first period after a cross-ice feed from Nelson.
"It's nice to get the momentum going and continue it from where we thought we were," Lee said. "Coming out of the three-day break to kind of pop one just kind of [settle] the game a little bit and relieve some of the pressure that you can sometimes feel. Our guys from the puck drop tonight, we had our legs and made sure to keep [them moving]."