The Islanders extend their point streak to 3, but lose to the Penguins in overtime, 4-3. The Islanders started off this game strong with a very well played first period. It was a very tight period between the Islanders and the Penguins until Oliver Wahlstrom's pass was finished off by Brock Nelson for the 1-0 lead. The Islanders went into the second period with a head of steam and Mat Barzal put one away just 1:34 into the period to put the Islanders up 2-0. The Islanders took a quick penalty after the Barzal goal which led to a Sidney Crosby power-play goal just about 40 seconds later to put the Penguins within one. Just 30 seconds after the Crosby goal, defenseman Kris Letang gets one past Varlamov to quickly tie the score at 2. It was a tight rest of the period for both of these teams until Josh Bailey got a quick wrist shot past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry.
"You just collect points and at the end of the day, you hope you have enough. That’s plain and simple. We can’t dwell on it too much.” -Barry Trotz
This time it was the Penguins coming into the period with speed, Jared McCann ties the game at 3 just 18 seconds into the third period. It was a close rest of the period but this game had to be decided in extra minutes. The overtime period started off quite strong with many 2-on-1 opportunities on both sides. Some great saves by both the Islanders and Penguins goaltenders. The Islanders had many great chances and were out skating the Penguins in this overtime. But with just 26 seconds left in the game, Kris Letang gets a soft one past Semyon Varlamov. Luckily we were able to get a point of this one but poor performance from Semyon Varlamov and reckless penalty taking from the Islanders skaters ultimately cost them the game. Five minor penalties were taken this game from the Islanders which is not acceptable. Mat Barzal took two minor penalties this game, Adam Pelech took one, and J.G. Pageau took one as well. Therefore in this game the Penguins had five power play opportunities, while the Islanders only had one. The Islanders will play the second half of their back-to-back against the Penguins tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Nassau Coliseum.
