PITTSBURGH � The Penguins have certainly upped their game over the past month. So, if nothing else, the Islanders should now have a clearer picture of just how good they need to be to really consider themselves a playoff contender.
Because the Islanders were completely outclassed in a 6-2 loss on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena to open a two-game road trip.
Phil Kessel had two goals and two assists, Kris Letang added two goals, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and Casey DeSmith made 19 saves for the Penguins (12-10-5). Thomas Greiss, starting for the sixth time in seven games, was pulled after allowing five goals on 21 shots in two periods for the Islanders (13-11-3), who are 10-3-0 against Metropolitan Division opponents but have lost two of their last three divisional games.
The Islanders continued to struggle on the power play, going 0-for-2 with just three shots to extend their man-advantage drought to 0-for-19 over their last nine games.
The teams meet again on Monday night at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum _ possibly still reverberating from the Islanders' emotional 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Dec. 1 in the first-regular-season game at the old barn since 2015 _ after the Islanders had won the season's first two games against the Penguins. That included a 3-2 shootout win at Barclays Center on Nov. 1 that featured Greiss lunging to poke the puck away from Crosby on an overtime breakaway.
But the Penguins, just one season removed from back-to-back Stanley Cups, have now won two straight and are on a 5-2-2 run.
"The Penguins are playing probably a lot better than when we saw them (first)," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "They seem to be back on track. They've made some subtle changes in their game. They're not as loose as they were maybe earlier in the year."
The Penguins were clearly the better team from the start and particularly dominated the second period, outshooting the Islanders 13-4 to assert their control.
Riley Sheahan slipped past defenseman Nick Leddy and batted the puck past Greiss for a 3-1 lead at 7:21 on a play reviewed for a high stick. Kessel's power-play goal at 12:09 as Crosby found him open in the left circle made it 4-1 and Crosby skated around Leddy to the crease and fed Kessel at the right post for a 5-1 lead at 17:37.
Letang opened the scoring at 8:34 of the first period as he was left alone in the right circle to receive the feed from Derick Brassard. The Islanders did not get their first shot until Leddy's backhander off a rush at 7:19.
Brock Nelson's short-handed goal tied it at 1 at 17:43 with a backhander through DeSmith's pads off ex-Penguin Tom Kuhnhackl's effective forecheck. It snapped an eight-game goal-less streak for Nelson, who scored his 10th of the season, while the Penguins allowed their NHL-leading eighth short-handed goal.
But Letang made it 2-1 with 28.5 seconds left with a low blue-line shot over Greiss' left pad and under his glove that the goalie should have stopped.
Christopher Gibson stopped six shots in relief of Greiss, turning aside Crosby's breakaway but allowing his sharp-angle goal at 13:00. Anders Lee had pulled the Islanders within 5-2 with a backhander at 4:23 of the third period.
