Empty Thoughts: Islanders 4, Penguins 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 loss to the Islanders in Game 4:

For all the well-deserved criticism the Penguins received after this game, particularly from Western Pennsylvania, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal provided a profoundly pragmatic observation of the team that he had just defeated.

“That’s a pretty veteran group over on the other side,” Barzal said via video conference. “Whatever we did tonight, they’ve probably already forgotten about it. They’re going to be fresh for Game 5.”

The Penguins were pretty lousy in Game 4. They took way too many penalties. Their puck management was sloppy. They just looked off all game.

Yet, there’s little reason to believe whatever funk the Penguins were in on Saturday will carry over to Game 5 on Monday. The Islanders certainly don’t believe it will.

And neither does Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.

“It’s like that every year and these guys have been through it an awful lot,” Sullivan said. “They know exactly what’s in store. We’re well prepared for it. We’ve just got to make sure we react the right way.”

What happened

After a scoreless first period, the Islanders took the game’s first lead 8:07 into the second. After a turnover by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang on his own end boards, Islanders forward Brock Nelson dished a pass to the left circle for linemate Josh Bailey who pumped a wrister that clunked off the underside of goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove and bounced into the net. The Penguins protested claiming Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier interfered with Jarry on the sequence but their objections fell on deaf ears. Bailey was credited with his second goal of the postseason off assists from Nelson and Beauvillier.

They made it a 2-0 game at 14:51 of the second. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom lifted a wrister on net. Jarry made the initial save and kicked out a rebound that slid above the left circle. Defenseman Ryan Pulock chased down the puck and whacked a one-timer that struck off the left skate of Penguins defenseman Cody Ceci and deflected past Jarry’s left skate for Pulock’s first goal. Assists went to Wahlstrom and defenseman Nick Leddy.

The Islanders secured victory with a four-on-three power-play goal at 6:04 of the third period by Wahlstrom. Off a give-and-go sequence in the Penguins’ left circle with Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, Wahlstrom stroked a one-timer on net. Jarry made the initial save but the rebound slid to the top of the crease where Penguins forward Teddy Blueger inadvertently directed it into the open cage. Wahlstrom was credited with his first goal off assists from Barzal and Pulock.

The hole got deeper only 24 seconds later when Islanders forward Jordan Eberle, an occasional nemesis to the Penguins, got his first goal of the postseason during a five-on-four power-play sequence. Shielding a puck in the left corner of the offensive zone, Barzal was able to locate Eberle wide open in the right circle, hitting him with a pass. Uncontested, Barzal lifted a wrister past Jarry’s glove hand on the near side. Barzal and forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau netted assists.

The Penguins broke up the shutout bid at 17:25 of the third period with a short-handed score. Off the rush, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin fired a wrister on net that goaltender Ilya Sorokin knocked down with his glove. On the ensuing rebound, Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese was able to poke the puck in for his first career postseason goal. Dumoulin had the lone assist.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins had a 30-27 edge in shots.

• Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and Beauvillier each led the game with six shots.

• Letang led the game with 22:37 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Defenseman Adam Pelech led the Islanders with 21:19 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• The Islanders dominated faceoffs, 33-17 (66%).

• Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was 12 for 17 (71%).

• Penguins forward Jeff Carter was 6 for 15 (40%).

• Pulock led the game with six blocked shots.

• Defenseman John Marino, Ceci and Dumoulin each led the Penguins with three blocked shots.

• Jarry made 23 saves on 27 shots.

• Sorokin made 29 saves on 30 shots.

Randomly speaking

• Penalties really did in the Penguins. Only 4:07 into regulation, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin got lured into a scuffle with Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck and both players got roughing minors. That kind of set the tone for the Penguins as they took six penalties in total.

The timing of the penalties was crucial too, at least in the third period. At 4:04 of the final frame, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby drew a holding minor from Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield to give the visitors their first power-play chance of the day.

Yet, only 30 seconds later, Penguins forward Jason Zucker took a tripping minor to nullify that opportunity. That was followed up 41 seconds later by Letang getting nabbed for an interference minor. That allowed the Islanders to cash in with two power-play scores to secure victory.

• The Penguins’ top line has not produced much this series. Crosby and Bryan Rust have each been limited to a goal. And while Jake Guentzel leads the team with 19 shots this series, he has yet to find the back of the net.

This trio is getting chances but just can’t convert. It’s hard to see Sullivan breaking them up just given his general reluctance to ever do that with his top line but such a maneuver wouldn’t be unwarranted.

• A change in lines might benefit Malkin too. He was held without a shot in Game 4.

There was an anxious moment midway through this game when Pulock struck Malkin’s wonky right knee:

Malkin appeared to be relatively fine after that hit.

• The ice at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was not ideal as it was exceptionally humid Saturday. Given that this building is over half a century old, it probably isn’t ideally suited to handle warmer weather. That said, very few of the modern buildings seem to handle humidity either.

Regardless, the Islanders adapted to the conditions well and kept things simple. The Penguins did not.

• Through the first three games of the series, it could be argued Letang was the Penguins’ best player. But he came back to earth in Game 4. He was just sloppy with his puck management and the interference minor he took was a killer.

He needs to level off his play going into Game 5.

• It’s difficult to blame Jarry for this loss. Two of the Islanders’ goals were directed into the net by Penguins players. Perhaps he could have made routine saves on the Islanders’ first and fourth goals. But there wasn’t much Jarry was going to be able to do to win this game given how poorly his teammates played.

• The Islanders seemed intent in making contact with Jarry to get him off-kilter. That tactic worked at least once on the first goal.

• Sorokin stepped up big. After serving as the backup to the ineffective Semyon Varlamov in Games 2 and 3, he stepped in for Game 4 and coolly led his team to victory.

He established a tone pretty early on at 1:01 of the first period when Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen raced in on a great chance and put a wrister on net. Sorokin calmly booted it out and just looked in control from that moment on.

• It’s probably not ideal for the Penguins that Eberle has woken up. He usually finds ways to collect goals against the Penguins but had been quiet through the first three games of the series. Perhaps his score in Game 4 gets him going.

• To circle back to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and its age:

Love this place: pic.twitter.com/oPZurfK70y

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) May 22, 2021

Historically speaking

• Aston-Reese’s score was the Penguins’ first short-handed postseason score in more than four years. Their last goal on the penalty kill was by ex-forward Matt Cullen in a 6-2 road win against the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of a second-round series April 29, 2017.

Publicly speaking

• Malkin on the penalties:

“We understand (that) we take too many penalties tonight. The next game, we need (to) focus and play disciplined. Don’t give them any chance to play power play and (do) not take bad penalties.”

• Malkin continued on the penalties and how the Islanders try to drag them into post-whistle nonsense:

“It’s hard to go away every time. After (a) whistle, you stay at the boards, in front, they come to you. It’s playoff times. … If they push your goalie or they push your (teammates), you need to be strong. We understand how they play, we understand they’re a physical team. But after (the) whistle, we need to stay together (and) not talk too much to them.

“I take like three penalties. But I’m not surprised. These guys (the Islanders) get me every game, give me penalties. I’m not surprised but it’s OK. I understand. I will be more disciplined more next game. We’re not happy now, not just me. The whole team (is) not happy. … We need to forget this game and forget this day. It’s a best-of-three now.”

• Sullivan on the penalties:

“We get (30) seconds of power-time to seven-plus minutes (for the Islanders). That’s a big discrepancy. We can’t take the amount of penalties that we took.”

• Crosby on his line:

“I thought today, we had some good looks. (The Islanders) are not going to give you a ton. So when you get an opportunity, you’ve got to capitalize, you have to execute. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that. We had some really good looks in the second (period) before they scored. We’ve just to execute. That’s really what it comes down to.”

• Sullivan has faith in his top line:

“Jake finds ways to get chances every night. He’s had a handful of chances in this series. He hasn’t converted on them to this point. He’s had a number of pretty good looks. It’s going to take just hard work and ‘stick-to-it-ness.’ We’ve just got to stay with it. I don’t think we were quite as sharp tonight. We didn’t have as many looks tonight as we had in the first few games. We’re going to have to work for those moving forward. But these guys are good offensive players. We’ve just got to stay with it.”

• Dumoulin said his team needs to be sharper mentally:

“We need more urgency after they score. Those next shifts are huge. If they score and we establish (offensive) zone time and we start putting them on their heels. We start tipping momentum in our favor. And obviously, in playoffs, a lot of it is momentum. The shifts after goals … I think those are critical times, especially the last minute of the period. Those are critical points in the game where we need to realize that and have more awareness and get pucks deep.”

• Malkin spoke publicly for the first time since suffering his presumed right knee injury March 16. He offered something of a situation report:

“I feel great. I (skated) a lot before I started playing. I (stepped) on the ice and no pain, nothing. The last two games, I feel better every game.”

• While Sorokin is a rookie technically, at 25, he’s had a lot of professional success in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), having won that league’s championship, the Gagarin Cup, in 2019. So this isn’t his first rodeo. Trotz spoke to that experience:

“Ilya has been through a lot of stuff, everything from league championships in a very good league, the KHL. … He’s been under the spotlight a lot and been in those big moments a lot. … He enjoys those moments, just like (Varlamov) does. He’s not a guy that is a pure rookie coming into the NHL or these high-pressure situations. He’s had a lot of them. As we’ve brought him along, he just feels very comfortable.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

Follow the Penguins all season long.