Empty Thoughts: Islanders 4, Penguins 3

Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Islanders

First things first, there was no update on Penguins forward Jared McCann. He left the game at 15:00 of the first period due to an undisclosed injury. From the television broadcasts available, it wasn’t evident what might have led to his ailment.

It’s not exactly clear what’s ailing Tristan Jarry either.

Not necessarily from a health standpoint but in terms of results.

He was simply not good enough in this game.

To be clear, this was not a complete clunker of a game for him. He had some outstanding moments where he did steal goals, particularly when the defense broke down as it did way too often in this contest.

At the same time, the first goal he allowed probably should have been saved given that it was a short-side backhander high. Meanwhile, the second and fourth goals came off rebounds in or near the crease.

It’s not unfair to expect Jarry to be better. Especially since he’s the Penguins’ only true option in net as the top goaltender.

What’s unclear is how or when he gets better.

He’s given way to backup Casey DeSmith for a handful of games this season in the name of getting extra practice with goaltending coach Mike Buckley. And there were a few additional sessions with Buckley this past week as a result of each of the Penguins’ home games being postponed due to covid-19 issues elsewhere in the NHL.

On Friday, Jarry was asked if there were any specific areas of his game that he wanted to focus on with the extra practice.

His answer was ambiguous.

“Making sure that I had good practice habits and making sure I was working hard and just trying to stop every puck,” Jarry said via video conference. “That’s been my mindset every day for the past couple of years is just to get better and to stop as many pucks as I can.”

Gotcha. A goaltender has to stop pucks. Thanks.

Jarry didn’t stop four pucks on Saturday, and that led to his team’s come-from-ahead loss.

Coach Mike Sullivan is wary of ever criticizing a player. He’s very loyal to those on his roster, even if he’s unsatisfied with them. But he offered quite a qualifier as he praised Jarry on Saturday when asked about the goaltender’s play in the game.

“It’s a tough one right now right after the game to make an assessment,” Sullivan said. “I do think he made some big saves, especially in that second period. Obviously, we don’t want to give up four goals in a game. It’s hard to win when you do. But I thought he made some big saves in the second period.”

What happened

The Islanders took the contest’s first lead 10:22 into regulation. After Penguins forwards Sam Lafferty and Drew O’Connor failed to connect on a pass in the neutral zone, Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson claimed the puck at his own blue line and banked it up the right wing off the boards. Islanders forward Michael Dal Colle settled the puck at the Penguins’ blue line and fed a backhand pass to the center point for onrushing Islanders forward Jordan Eberle. Veering through the left circle, Eberle shielded the puck from Penguins defenseman Cody Ceci and lifted a backhander over Jarry’s right shoulder on the near side for his fourth goal of the season. Dal Colle and Dobson netted assists.

Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph scored his first career goal at 13:43 of the first period to tie the game. Lugging the puck out of his own zone, Joseph fed a pass up the left wing for forward Jake Guentzel. Pushing play up to the left half wall, Guentzel drew in Islanders defenseman Andy Greene, creating ample space in the left circle. Guentzel then fed it back to an advancing Joseph who sizzled a top shelf wrister from the left circle over goaltender Semyon Varlamov’s glove on the far side. Assists went to Guentzel and Letang.

Another goal by Eberle restored a lead, 2-1, for the Islanders at 15:45 of the first. After a turnover by Penguins forward Jason Zucker at the Islanders’ blue line, Eberle pushed play into the Penguins’ zone on the right wing. After Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson poke checked the puck loose in the right circle, Dal Colle claimed it. Fending off a backcheck from Zucker, Dal Colle fed a backhand pass to the slot for Islanders forward Brock Nelson. Deking around kneeling Penguins defenseman John Marino, Nelson fired a wrister on net. Jarry made the initial save but allowed a rebound. Eberle, who was left unguarded above the crease, claimed the loose puck and tucked a forehand shot past Jarry’s left leg. Nelson and Dal Colle collected assists.

Late in the second period, at the 19:44 mark, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin scored his first even-strength goal of the season to tie the game again, 2-2. After Malkin forced Nelson into a turnover at New York’s blue line, Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen controlled the puck on the left half wall and tapped a backhanded pass to the left circle where Malkin lifted a wrister over Varlamov’s glove on the far side. It was Malkin’s second goal overall this season. Kapanen had the lone assist.

The Penguins took their first lead of the contest 3:19 into the third period. Cycling out of the Islanders’ left corner, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby fended off Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock and fed a backhand pass to Guentzel in the left circle. Turning to the cage, Guentzel snapped off a wrister under Varlamov’s blocker on the near side for his fourth goal. Assists went to Crosby and forward Bryan Rust.

Things were tied again, 3-3, at 8:23 of the third. Islanders forward Casey Cizikas chased down a puck dumped into the Penguins end boards. As Joseph gave pursuit, Letang joined him and vacated the front of the cage. That allowed Cizikas to make a quick backhand pass off the boards to above the crease where forward Cal Clutterbuck jabbed in a forehand shot past Jarry’s glove hand for his first goal. Cizikas and forward Matt Martin netted assists.

A power-play goal at 17:16 of the third secured victory for the Islanders. After Penguins forward Teddy Blueger was nabbed for delay of game for lobbing a puck out of play from his own zone, the Islanders were granted the game’s only power-play opportunity and they cashed in. Controlling the puck in the right circle, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal fed a seam pass to above the left circle where Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock had his stick cocked for a one-timer. Pulock cranked his shot and Jarry made the initial save but allowed a rebound to trickle loose in the crease. Islanders forward Anders Lee was positioned above the crease, beat Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to the puck and jabbed it into the open net for his fourth goal. Assists went to Pulock and Barzal.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 31-26.

• Rust led the game with eight shots (on 15 attempts).

• Eberle led the Islanders with seven shots.

• Pulock led the game with 24:02 of ice time on 24 shifts.

• Letang led the Penguins with 23:41 of ice time on 26 shifts.

• The Islanders controlled faceoffs, 23-20 (53%).

• Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau was 7 for 10 (70%).

• Crosby was 8 for 15 (54%).

• Penguins defenseman John Marino, Dobson, Pageau and Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield each led the game with two blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• To pin this game solely on Jarry would not be fair. There were plenty of accomplices in this setback, especially in the third period.

Letang’s decision to double up Cizikas (along with Joseph) was a killer as it left Clutterbuck all alone on net. That’s a mistake a veteran with 15 years of experience cannot make.

And Blueger typically plays a fundamentally-sound game. His delay of game penalty was a stark departure from that approach. Add in his role as one of the team’s top short-handed players, and it’s just a bad moment.

• Speaking of special teams, the Penguins failed to score a power-play goal for the sixth consecutive game. But they had a pretty good excuse this time. They didn’t get a single power-play chance.

After all the work they devoted to the power play this past week, it was kind of cruel for them to not get a chance.

That said, the Islanders didn’t exactly give the officials much reason to call a penalty. Both teams played a pretty disciplined game.

• Speaking of chances, the top line of Crosby, Guentzel and Rust got a lot of them. They peppered Varlamov with a ton of shots and really carried play anytime they were on the ice. That trio probably deserved more than one goal in this game.

• Malkin’s goal was a welcome sight. Not just because he scored, but because he was the reason the Penguins even had possession on the sequence. He forced the turnover and immediately put himself in position to score. He looked like the player that he’s expected to be.

• Joseph continues to be a revelation. He might be the Penguins’ most impactful rookie since the arrival of Guentzel in 2016-17.

• Matheson was a mixed bag in his return from injury. He logged 20:49 of ice time on 23 shifts and had two shots. At the same time, he looked a bit overwhelmed by the Islanders’ forwards, at least in the first period. He remains a work in progress.

• The Islanders really needed this win. They entered this game on a five-game losing streak. And like the Penguins, they were coming off a long break as a result of covid-19 issues elsewhere in the league. They showed some moxie in taking advantage of the Penguins’ mistakes and scraped out a tough win.

• When he was stuck with the Edmonton Oilers a few years ago, Eberle always seemed like a player who would be a great fit with the Penguins and Crosby specifically. He skates in quick bursts and can create things in tight areas. Regardless, he’s become quite a player for the Islanders. That was evident in this game.

Historically speaking

• Joseph became the 538th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Varlamov appeared in his 500th career game.

Publicly speaking

• Sullivan was fairly high on his squad’s effort:

“I thought there was a lot of positives to take from it. Our five-on-five play was pretty strong. I thought we got better as the game went on. We controlled a lot of the third period. We fought back from a deficit. There was a lot to like about our overall game. When you look at the third and the fourth goals (by the Islanders), I think we could have done a better job controlling circumstances so that those types of events don’t happen. That, for me, is the lesson. We’ve just got to make sure we don’t give our opponents easy opportunities to score by making sure we have an awareness. We also have to have an awareness when we’re late in shifts that we simplify our game, get pucks deep and make sure that we get the line changes that we need so that we can continue to play the game that we want to play. We could have done a better job of controlling situations in that third goal and the fourth goal. But for a lot of the night, I really liked a lot of our game.”

• Joseph on his team’s play:

“I think we deserved a better fate. But there was a lot of positive. (Jarry) was really solid out there and that’s good for the next couple of games he’s going to be in. It’s always in your head when you don’t put up points (in the standings). But guys are back on track. They’re doing a really good job. I think we deserved a better fate.”

• Sullivan was asked if the sequence leading to the Islanders’ third goal was due to Letang’s miscue or a lack of experience playing with one another between Letang and Joseph:

“It’s probably a little bit of both. I’m sure (Letang) was trying to help in that circumstance. But I think if he stops in front, it’s probably a nothing play. But listen, things happen fast out there. … I think it was probably a little bit of both.”

• Guentzel on his line:

“I thought we had a good night. I felt like we had the puck a lot. We were in the (offensive) zone creating chances. It was obviously nice getting rewarded. But it’s never good enough when you fall short. Just got to keep the positives and hopefully build off of them.”

• Guentzel on Joseph:

“It’s been fun to watch. … just his poise and how he handles himself and his confidence that he has with the puck. That was a goal-scorer’s shot. Just a really good all-around play by him.”

• Sullivan is high on Malkin:

“Malkin had a pretty good game. He’s really working out there. You can see his energy level, he’s really trying. He’s looking to try to shoot the puck more. We’re trying to encourage him to put more pucks on the net. I thought he got better as the game went on, which is encouraging from our standpoint. I really like his work ethic right now. He’s competing hard out there. That’s what we’re asking him to do. He’s an elite player. His game is gaining a lot of traction here.”

• Matheson was kind of lukewarm about his play:

“I thought it got better as the game went on. The first half of the game, the puck was kind of bouncing everywhere. I wasn’t seeing the game as well as I’d like to. I felt like the second half, I kind of settled in and started making smarter plays with the puck and getting into the rush and defending a little better.”

• At 5-5-1, the Penguins are one-game below .500 (by record at least) and are in fourth place of the Atlantic Division. Matheson was asked if he is paying any extra attention to the standings due to the condensed schedule:

“Personally, I don’t spend too much time looking at that kind of stuff. If you’re down in the standings, it’s just going to get you down and make you feel like you don’t have a chance. … At the end of the day, we come into every game with a clean slate and with the focus of winning that game. I don’t spend too much time worrying about it. Our main focus is to win each game.”

• Sullivan isn’t putting much weight into the standings just yet either:

“Obviously, we’d like to have a better record than we do. But we’re just trying to control the process here. We’re trying to win that game right in front of us. It makes no sense, I think right now, to just scrutinize the standings. The only thing that we can control is trying to learn through the experiences, try to get better as a team and try to win that game right in front of us. If we do, then the standings will take care of itself. So that’s our approach.”

• While answering a question about his fourth line, Trotz went out of his way to praise Crosby:

“Eighty-seven was really good tonight for the other team. I thought he was the most dominant player. We know what he can do in this league. He was by far the best player on the ice.”

• Before the game, Trotz had a pretty interesting answer when asked about how to defend Crosby:

“He keeps evolving. The biggest thing with Sid, to me, is that you always have to control where he is. Keep him to the outside. He’s going to make plays through you. He’s always going to damage you. You’ve just got manage the damage. Because he’s been effective for the length of his career. He’s been effective against every team in the league. You’ve just to minimize it as best as possible. And the best way is to stay on top of him, to take away his time and space. But you can’t (overplay) him because he’ll make plays through two or three people. So you have to be aware of where he is and you have to be aware of his potential passes, his potential plays. And try to be very aware of his whole surroundings. Because he can make plays in small areas. He can make long plays, he can make tight plays. He gets there, his timing on tips, all of that. Control his stick, control the people around him and try to minimize the damage. That’s how I look at playing Sid Crosby.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

Follow the Penguins all season long.