The Penguins have to win more than one playoff game to prove they are capable of something special. But in fighting off the New York Islanders on Tuesday, they showed something we haven’t seen much of in recent postseasons.
Pushback.
In their 2-1 win in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Islanders, guys like Brian Dumoulin and Jake Guentzel got up after crushing hits. Tristan Jarry bounced back after a worrisome Game 1. And even though the Penguins again lost steam as the game went on, they buckled down in crunch-time.
We haven’t seen much of that from them the last three years, when they lost 10 of 11 playoff games, including a stunning sweep against the Islanders in 2019.
Again, it was just one win. But the Penguins have to start somewhere, right?
In just the second game of a best-of-seven series, Tuesday’s game at PPG Paints Arena was not a must-win. But securing a split at home was highly recommended. Game 3 is slated for Thursday at 7 p.m. at Nassau Coliseum, a rowdy place where the Penguins have endured some of their toughest postseason losses.
The Penguins, still without injured center Evgeni Malkin, rolled out the same lineup as they did in Sunday’s 4-3 loss in overtime. That included Dumoulin, who was hobbled by a blast to his boot in Game 1, and the same starting goalie.
Sunday, in his first start as the unquestioned No. 1 goalie in Pittsburgh, Tristan Jarry cost the Penguins a win by letting four stoppable shots get past him. Three of those goals came from atop the circles, something that the coaching staff had Jarry focus on within the first five minutes of Monday’s practice in Cranberry.
Despite Sunday’s shaky performance, the Penguins publicly expressed confidence in the 26-year-old. After watching Jarry go about his business Monday, coach Mike Sullivan said he liked where Jarry’s mindset was heading into Game 2.
One way to ease the tension for a goalie who had been under public scrutiny for two days is giving him an early lead. Bryan Rust did that 3:22 into the game, when his long-distance wrister somehow evaded Semyon Varlamov’s glove.
Seconds earlier, on their first shift of the night, Brandon Tanev and his linemates set the tone. Tanev barreled into Brock Nelson, who has four inches and 32 pounds on him, along the boards so hard the sound boomed over the din of a 50% capacity crowd. Then Zach Aston-Reese nearly scored before the shift ended.
The Penguins pushed the lead to 2-0 with 6:53 left in the period, less than a minute after Jarry held his ground against Anthony Beauvillier on a 2-on-1. The Islanders botched another breakout and Jared McCann from behind the net completed a difficult centering pass to Jeff Carter, who beat Varlamov five-hole.
Heading into the series, much was made about a formidable Islanders forecheck. But in the first two games it was the Penguins who caused their opponent problems with Tanev, Kasperi Kapanen and other forwards doubling as defenseman-seeking missiles after dump-ins. Their forecheck created a goal in both games.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, the second period of Game 2 looked a lot like the second period of Game 1. After a fast start, the physical Islanders, who racked up an eye-popping 72 hits in their win Sunday, appeared to wear them down.
Tuesday, the Penguins had one sustained shift of offense in the first 12 minutes of the period. They totaled only one shot on their two power plays. And just like in Sunday’s middle period, they failed to fire a quality shot on a pair of 2-on-1 rushes. Freddy Gaudreau inexplicably turned down a great look Tuesday.
With the Penguins on their heels, Josh Bailey stepped around Carter and whipped a backhand from the slot past Jarry’s glove. That goal, which came on their 22nd of the night, got the Islanders back within a goal with 5:16 left in the period.
The teams traded chances in the third but the score remained the same. The Penguins had to kill a late 6-on-4 after Rust inexplicably threw the puck over the glass with 1:26 remaining. Jarry made 10 of his 37 saves in the third period.
