Resilience: Islanders Hold Off Penguins, Win 6-3

ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders (14-15-7) dug deep and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins (16-16-5) 6-3 on Saturday Night in UBS Arena. Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee scored two goals each, leading New York past the recently hot Penguins.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 22 of 25 shots in the victory. His counterpart Tristan Jarry turned aside 28 of 33 shots that came his way. Anthony Duclair scored, extending his point streak to three games. The lone other Islanders’ tally came by way of Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

First Period:

Notably, the game featured adversity that the Islanders had to overcome en route to the victory. That started with Maxim Tsyplakov taking an offensive zone tripping penalty less than a minute into the game coming off that 7-1 loss.

Then, the Islanders had a strong kill to lift themselves into the game. Brock Nelson then seemingly broke the ice before Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan challenged the call for goalie interference on Anthony Duclair. Sullivan successfully challenged the call, and the game reverted to 0-0.

Eventually, the Islanders found a way to break through. Pageau slammed home a backdoor feed from Mathew Barzal. The pass from Barzal was so good that Pageau mouthed, “What a f*****g pass!!” as Barzal joined the celebration.

Postgame, Pageau furthered that sentiment to reporters, saying, “The only thing I could’ve done [wrong] there is f**k it up and miss the net” (Credit- Ethan Sears NY Post).

Later in the first, Cizikas took a weak interference penalty, one which the Penguins capitalized on by way of a Michael Bunting power play goal after Alexander Romanov failed to clear.

Second Period:

Early in the second, Tsylakov’s woes continued with his second penalty of the night when he blatantly hooked P.O. Joseph just over two minutes in. The Islanders got the kill, but Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy demoted Tsyplakov to the fourth line.

Postgame, Roy harshly critiqued Tsyplakov, “(The penalties were) Unnecessary. It’s not a charity event. It’s about winning hockey games, and he wasn’t playing well.”

After a strong kill, the floodgates opened for the Islanders, with three goals coming in four minutes, from 5:39 to 9:39.

The first tally came off a 2-on-1 rush with Kyle Palmieri and Duclair. The former slipped a neat pass through Ryan Shea and onto the tape of Duclair, who celebrated with vigor.

2:36 later, Lee sent a rebound off the post. There, it slid back toward Jarry, but Kris Letang accidentally knocked the puck into his own net, gifting the Islanders a 3-1 edge.  Cizikas then deflected home a Romanov shot pass. 1:03 later. That made it 4-1 Islanders with a cathartic feeling toward the game after the indignation before the holiday pause.

However, more adversity. After another successful kill (3/4 on the night), Noah Dobson inadvertently knocked Sorokin who had been attempting to squeeze the puck tight. The puck instead dropped behind Sorokin, where Noel Acciari scored the easiest goal of his career into the vacant net.

Then, things got dicey. With less than four seconds to go in the second, Rickard Rakell deflected a Matt Grzelcyk shot past Sorokin. Sorokin never stood a chance on the goal, as Rakell’s tip was perfect.

Third Period:

The Islanders’ masterpiece came in the third period. They limited the Penguins to just four shots on goal while scoring two insurance markers to take the game 6-3.

Cizikas’ second of the game came with just 5:17 left on the clock. Simon Holmstrom, who had an up-and-down game, sent a bank pass for the speedy Cizikas to skate into where he beat Jarry shortside for a 5-3 lead.

The Islanders desperately needed that Cizikas goal. For the first almost 15 minutes of the third, you could feel the tension in the building from the fans. It felt as if everyone was waiting for something to go wrong, but tonight it never did.

Even during the 5-on-6, the Islanders outworked Pittsburgh. Eventually, Lee stole it from Erik Karlsson behind the net and tucked it into the empty cage with 22 seconds to go.

Locker Room Thoughts:

Speaking to Cizikas, Pageau, and then Roy, it’s clear the Islanders wanted this game badly.

Roy said during film and meetings this morning that the team wanted to just get on the ice and set a strong tone. They outshot Pittsburgh 34-25 despite taking four penalties and only drawing two calls on the Penguins.

Cizikas directly cited Monday’s humiliation as fuel for the fire and wanted to give the fans something to cheer for. They did that, but now the questions turn to tomorrow.

Can the Islanders string together another win? It’s possible, and it’s necessary. The puck drops just after 5:30 in the evening tomorrow in Pittsburgh. The last time the Islanders played in Pittsburgh, the Islanders won in overtime on Adam Pelech’s overtime winner.