The Penguins began their three-game divisional road trip on Tuesday at UBS Arena by falling to the Islanders in a shootout, 4-3.
It was a frustrating result, as Pittsburgh had built a two-goal lead just under eight minutes into the final frame before New York tallied twice in a 3:07 span to even the score.
“We played a great first two periods, I thought we took it to them… it's a tough pill to swallow. Got a point out of it, I guess, try to take a positive away from it,” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “We got two more games left on this road trip to come away with a positive trip. So I mean, it sucks, but we got to put it behind us here.”
Nedeljkovic made 23 saves, while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Michael Bunting all scored for Pittsburgh.
After a scoreless first, the captain got on the board at the 5:27 mark of the second, his fifth tally in the past three games. Crosby is now just two goals shy of becoming just the 21st player in NHL history to reach 600 goals.
The Islanders evened the score on a wild bounce, with Nedeljkovic saying, “it caught off my stick, went in the air and I lost it when it went straight up. I had a feeling it was kind of going behind me, that’s why I did that turn. I just lost sight of it, and unfortunately, (Kyle Palmieri) was pretty aware of where it was going.”
Evgeni Malkin got it back shortly after with his best No. 87 impression, going down on one knee for a slapshot goal. Their line with Rickard Rakell remained dynamic offensively for the Penguins, as the trio continued to put together some fantastic shifts.
“Playing with Raks and Geno, we’re generating some looks, we have the puck, and I think that builds some confidence,” Crosby said after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Montreal. “They've been unbelievable.”
Following that game versus the Canadiens, head coach Mike Sullivan said he felt like Michael Bunting was ready to score. After Monday’s practice, where the forward got on the ice early to work with assistant coach Ty Hennes, he said, “I’ve never had a start like this, so I'm trying my best to get out of it. It's frustrating for any athlete when things aren't bouncing your way, even though I feel like I've had a lot of chances.
“I just got to go day by day and keep helping this team win. That's the main goal and that's what I plan on doing every single day. Hopefully, bounces start going my way."
Bunting got a great feed from Jesse Puljujarvi, who slotted back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games, and buried his first of the year in the third period. But New York converted a power play not long after, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau then finding the tying goal before the Penguins were forced to kill another penalty. That one was assessed to Bunting for high sticking.
“I think we didn’t play simple enough,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “We kind of let them come at us in waves. They grabbed ahold of it. I thought we played two good periods, got the 3-1 lead there in the third, took a couple penalties… and yeah, just momentum. We kind of gave it to them.”
“We just need to play better. We should have played the way that we played in the first two periods. We would have been fine,” Sullivan said. “We played a straight-ahead game. I think we weren't as diligent with the puck. We didn't play as much north-south. Give the Islanders credit. They pushed back.”
Next up for the Penguins is Carolina on Thursday before finishing the trip in Washington on Friday.
