Empty Thoughts: Islanders 3, Penguins 2 (2OT)

Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 double overtime loss to the Islanders in Game 5:

The Penguins traded to get Tristan Jarry. Twice.

At the 2013 draft, without many high selections thanks to the organization’s seemingly never-ending practice of dealing away future assets to “win now,” the Penguins did the reverse and dealt forward Tyler Kennedy, a vital member of the 2009 Stanley Cup championship, to the San Jose Sharks for a second-rounder (No. 50 overall).

A little later on, they dealt that pick and a third-rounder (No 89 overall) in that same draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets to end up with the No. 44 pick, also in the second round.

With that pick, the Penguins drafted Jarry with the hopes he could potentially supplant long-time starter Marc-Andre Fleury.

In the eight years since, the organization has invested quite a few resources in the pursuit of developing Jarry into their franchise goaltender. Various coaches and player development staffers have put far too many man-hours to tabulate into making him NHL ready. And they’ve cut ties with several other high-end assets in net to make room for Jarry.

Just this past offseason, they traded away Matt Murray and his two Stanley Cup rings to the Ottawa Senators partially to clear a path for Jarry to take over as the top goaltender. One could even make a case that the team allowed Fleury to walk in the 2017 expansion draft due in part to the presence of Jarry. Ditto former prospect Filip Gustavsson, a second-round pick in 2016 who they traded to the Senators in 2018.

This past offseason, management re-signed Jarry to a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3.5 million.

The 2021 postseason, Jarry’s first as the team’s unquestioned starter, is the manifestation of all of that asset management and energy devoted to this endeavor.

This is Tristan Jarry’s moment. And it’s not going well.

Even before his brutal gaffe that led to the Islanders’ winning goal in the second overtime of Game 5, it was fair to question Jarry’s play. He has been OK through the first four games of the series but hardly dominant.

Now, after that inexcusable play in the second overtime period? It’s almost mandatory to wonder if the Penguins have gotten a fair return as of yet on everything they’ve put into Jarry over the past eight years.

The Penguins need more — much more — out of their franchise goaltender. The investment they’ve made in him over the course of nearly a decade justly puts the heaviest of expectations on his shoulders.

He must offer his best in Game 6 on Wednesday.

“He’s been such a good goalie for us all year long,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought he had a heck of a game up until then. He made a mistake.

“We’ll rally around him. He’s been a really good goalie for us all year long. He’ll continue to be a good goalie for us moving forward.”

What happened

A power-play score supplied the Penguins with a lead 8:20 into regulation. Off some precision touch passing, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fed the puck from center point of the offensive zone to forward Evgeni Malkin off the left wall. Moving into the left circle, Malkin lined up Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield as a screen and lifted a wrister past goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s blocker on the near side for his first goal this postseason and first since March 15. Letang and forward Bryan Rust registered assists.

It marked only the second power-play goal the Penguins have generated this series.

The Islanders took advantage of a defensive miscue by the hosts to tie the game at 19:05 of the first period. As Letang pinched in deep on a forecheck and partner Brian Dumoulin pressured Islanders forward Josh Bailey in the neutral zone, Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier got loose rushing into the offensive zone with the puck. With Penguins forward Jake Guentzel the lone defender back, Beauvillier surged through a check attempt by Guentzel and lifted a wrister past Jarry’s blocker for his second goal. Assists went to forward Josh Bailey and defenseman Nick Leddy.

At 7:37 of the second, the Penguins reclaimed a lead, 2-1. Off the right half wall of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby backhanded a pass to the right point for Rust who clapped a one-timer that blew past Sorokin’s blocker on the far side. It was Rust’s second goal of the postseason. Crosby and Letang claimed assists.

Another defensive faux pas allowed the Islanders to tie the game again, 2-2, at 8:50 of the third period. Under pressure by forechecking Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Dumoulin lost the puck on his own end boards. Islanders forward Leo Komarov claimed it and fed a pass to the front of the slot for linemate Jordan Eberle. Getting Jarry to scramble out of position, Eberle was able to lift a wrister into the cage for his second goal. Assists were tallied by Komarov and Pageau.

Only 51 seconds into the second overtime period, the Islanders claimed victory. After Malkin failed to keep a puck in the offensive zone at the right point, it slid down ice to the Penguins’ zone where Jarry corralled it. Under pressure from Beauvillier, Jarry hurried in trying to play it up ice and essentially “passed” it to Bailey above the left circle. As Jarry tried to shuffle back into position, Bailey was able to lift an easy wrister past Jarry’s glove for his third goal. There were no assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins dominated shots, 50-28.

• Rust, forward Frederick Gaudreau and Mike Matheson each led the game with six shots.

• Defenseman John Marino was the only Penguins skater who failed to record a shot on net.

• Beauvillier led the Islanders with four shots.

• Letang led the game with 37:20 of ice time on 37 shifts.

• Leddy led the Islanders with 32:04 of ice time on 36 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 32-29 edge in faceoffs (52%).

• Penguins forward Jeff Carter was 14 for 19 (74%).

• Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was 7 for 11 (64%).

• Islanders defenseman Andy Greene and forward Leo Komarov each led the game with three blocked shots.

• Forwards Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker each led the Penguins with two blocked shots.

• Jarry made 25 saves on 28 shots.

• Sorokin made 48 saves on 50 shots.

Randomly speaking

• Sorokin was the difference in this game. The Penguins just dominated the puck in this game from start to almost the finish and Sorokin was tuned in. Just based on how they played, this should have been an easy win for the Penguins. Instead, it was a frustrating night due to Sorokin’s sterling play.

• The Penguins spoke of being better on the forecheck prior to the game and sure enough, they delivered. More often than not, they were all over the Islanders in their own zone, pressuring them into turnovers or other miscues with the puck. Furthermore, the Penguins usually initiated contact while the Islanders were the ones retaliating. It was a stark change from the first four games of the series.

• The top pairing of Letang and Dumoulin had a rough night. Or at least two really rough moments on both goals the Islanders scored in regulation. Dumoulin in particular seemed to struggle. The Penguins need more from those two.

• There was an unfortunate scene at 11:57 of the third period when Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom was injured.

Racing for a puck in the Penguins’ left corner, Wahlstrom and Matheson went shoulder to shoulder with Matheson winning the confrontation. Wahlstrom tumbled awkwardly into the boards with his right leg pinned under his body. Furthermore, his neck appeared to suffer some severe whiplash on the sequence.

Wahlstrom laid on the ice for several moments before being assisted to the dressing room. Islanders coach Barry Trotz did not have any update on his status.

By the book, this was interference. But given that both players tried to initiate contact and that the NHL has let far worse go throughout these playoffs, there was no way that play was going to get called.

It just seemed like a puck battle with an unfortunate ending.

The Islanders did not seem to have a strong objection to the hit. That said, they are not fans of Matheson dating back to the NHL’s postseason tournament last summer when Matheson, as a member of the Florida Panthers, injured ex-Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk with a high hit:

• Over the last few days, Sullivan was not shy about pointing out that his team only received 30 seconds of power-play time in Game 4. Well, his team got four minutes of power-play time in Game 5, including the first two minutes either team enjoyed and it was converted into a goal by Evgeni Malkin.

That was a classic case of working the officials that paid off for Sullivan.

• Crosby has been bad in faceoffs, winning only 41.4% of his draws (46 for 111) this series. It’s difficult to recall a time when he’s had such a rough patch in faceoffs.

• The Penguins did not need Eberle to wake up. After hibernating for three games, he now has goals in each of the last two contests.

• This was the first game in this series in which the team that scored first has lost.

Historically speaking

• The Penguins have lost five consecutive overtime playoff games, four of which were with Trotz coaching the opposition. The lone exception coming against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s postseason tournament last summer.

• Malkin’s goal was his first postseason score since a 4-3 overtime road loss to the Islanders in Game 1 of a first-round series on April 10, 2019.

• The last time the Penguins were on the wrong end of two overtime goals in the same postseason series was the first-round of the 2015 postseason. They were defeated by the New York Rangers, 4-1, in that series.

If you recall, Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri scored in overtime of Game 1.

• The Penguins’ last multi-overtime game was Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final. Thanks to a goal by forward Chris Kunitz in double overtime, the Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2.

That was also the last playoff overtime game the Penguins have won.

• Crosby (191 points) surpassed forward Brett Hull (190 points) for seventh place on the NHL’s career postseason scoring list.

Publicly speaking

• Letang professed optimism in how the Penguins played:

“Obviously, the result was not what we wanted tonight. But I think we made a statement. That’s the way we need to play. I’m pretty confident that if we play the same way, we’ll get the result.

“We made a statement. The way we played tonight, I think we just have to forget about it and go into their arena and bring the same intensity, the same urgency. I’m pretty sure we’ll get a better result.”

• Rust on how his team will react to the setback:

“Obviously, we would have liked to have that win. We’re all going to grow closer as a team. We’re going to work together. We’re going to lift our heads up and get out there and try and win. This is a race to four (wins). Our backs are against the wall now and we’ve just got to work hard to win these next two.”

• Sullivan was upbeat:

“I was really proud of the team. I thought we played a really solid hockey game. All four lines were going, all six defensemen. Tristan made a couple of big saves for us throughout the course of the game. I was really proud of the group. I thought we played with some swagger, we had some confidence, we were on our toes. I thought we played a speed game. It was unfortunate we didn’t find the net a little more often. But sometimes that happens in this game. We’ve got to put it behind us. We’ve got to look for the next one.

“We’ve got to win one hockey game. That’s the way I look at it. That’s what I said to the players after the game. We have a lot of leadership that has been through a lot of experiences in this league, especially in the playoffs. We’ll just keep this thing in perspective. We’ll go to (Long Island), we’ll put our best game on the ice.”

• Letang on Jarry:

“You shake it off and you have to bring your A-game the next one. It’s a team game. It’s nobody’s fault. We win as a team, we lose as a team. We’re going to shake it off. He’s going to bring his A-game like we did tonight. We’ll go in there and try to win that game.”

• Sullivan on Jarry:

“He’s a resilient kid. He’s a high-character person. … He’s a great teammate, he’s a (heck) of a hockey player. And we all believe in him. He’s played a lot of good hockey for us to this point. We wouldn’t have enjoyed the success that we’ve had through the course of this season to this point without the contribution of Tristan. He’s played a lot of really good hockey for us. We know he will moving forward.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

Follow the Penguins all season long.