PITTSBURGH — The 2,800 fans who walked into PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night expected a playoff-type atmosphere between the Penguins and New York Islanders, familiar East Division foes who were battling for the seventh time in as many weeks.
But before the game even reached its midway point, the home team ran up the score on the NHL’s stingiest club and chased a goalie who hadn’t lost since January. At that point, the night had the feel of a September preseason game, with some fans resorting to yelling “woo!” at each other to remain amused.
When the final buzzer blared Saturday, the Penguins picked up a 6-3 win and pulled within two points of the first-place Islanders and Washington Capitals.
Five Penguins players tallied multiple points in the win, including Bryan Rust, who scored three goals and extended his point streak to six games.
Considering the opponent, the stakes and the depleted lineup the Penguins were forced to ice due to injuries, this was arguably their biggest win of this season.
The Islanders have been one of the league’s hottest teams since smothering the Penguins in a 2-0 victory Feb. 28 on Long Island. That started a stretch in which they won 12 of 14 games and catapulted into first place in the East Division.
Ilya Sorokin took an eight-game winning streak with him into the Islanders crease Saturday. He had permitted just 11 goals over that span while posting a .944 save percentage, including that 20-save shutout of the Penguins on Feb. 28.
On this night, the Penguins beat Sorokin on their first shot. Then their second.
Freddy Gaudreau, who over the last week has provided a spark amid the myriad injuries up front, scored his first goal with the Penguins nearly six minutes in.
It happened after a beautiful breakout for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped the puck behind the net then zipped it over to Marcus Pettersson. He sent it up the left wall to Colton Sceviour, whose perfect chip pass into the neutral zone allowed Sam Lafferty, who got the primary assist, and Gaudreau to attack with speed.
A few minutes later, an innocent Evan Rodrigues wrister from the left circle fooled Sorokin. The goalie glanced at the bench but coach Barry Trotz kept him in.
The Penguins would chase the Russian with a pair of power-play goals early in the second period. Sidney Crosby backhanded a shot in off defenseman Scott Mayfield to make it 3-0. Less than two minutes later, Rust scored from the slot.
Sorokin made five saves on nine shots before being pulled for Semyon Varlamov. Rust welcomed Varlamov to the game moments later by roofing a rebound.
Those three goals in a span of four minutes, 29 seconds gave them a 5-0 lead.
And with that, the “woo!” birds were out in full throat at PPG Paints Arena.
Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier chipped away at the lead and Jordan Eberle scored with the goalie pulled to add a little late suspense. But Rust buried an empty-netter to put an end to that and get his fourth career hat trick.
Jarry made 29 saves to pick up his 12th win in 17 starts since Valentine’s Day.
The Penguins were without Mark Jankowski, who was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list prior to the game. That meant they were without three of their top four centers against the Islanders. Slotting in at center behind Crosby on Saturday were Jared McCann, Frederick Gaudreau and rookie Radim Zohorna.
During their three-game winning streak, the Penguins got goals from surprising sources. Gaudreau. Zohorna. Zach Aston-Reese. And a pair from Rodrigues.
Their power play also continued to click, even with Kasperi Kapanen joining Evgeni Malkin on injured reserve. They went 2 for 4 against a strong Islanders penalty kill and have now converted 27.9% of their opportunities in March.
With the win, the Penguins improved to 5-2-0 against the Islanders this season. The Islanders are 20-6-2 against other opponents in the stacked East Division.
The Penguins and Islanders face off again Monday at PPG Paints Arena. That will be the last of their eight games against each other during the regular season. There is a decent chance these teams could meet again in the playoffs, though.
