Penguins can't find answers as Islanders complete sweep

For four full games plus an overtime, the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to find answers to the tough questions the New York Islanders were asking them in the first round of the playoffs.

They tried to figure out how to deal with a ferocious forecheck that rarely took a shift off.

They tried to figure out how to solve a disciplined defense that sat back and lustily seduced them into a series of costly errors.

The answers never came.

Brock Nelson scored a late first-period goal to give his team the lead for good, and the Islanders clamped down for a 3-1 series-clinching victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins were swept out of the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history.

“I don’t have an answer for it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “The reality is we win as a group, and we lose a group and we’re all a part of it. We’ve all got to take responsibility. It’s disappointing. We had high expectations of this team. We believe we have good players, and we have the potential to be a good team, and we obviously did not play well enough to win.”

For the first shift of Game 4, the Penguins played more than well enough to win. They were quick and opportunistic on the forecheck as the home crowd roared its approval.

Sidney Crosby forced a turnover along the right-wing boards and fired a cross-ice backhand pass to Jake Guentzel in the high slot. He skated toward the left hash marks and ripped a shot in off the near post behind goalie Robin Lehner.

It was a highlight for the top-line combination of Crosby and Guentzel that hadn’t produced a point in the first three games.

“They just played a little bit better than us, and they came out on top every game,” Guentzel said. “It’s going to be a long summer. It’s definitely going to hurt for a while.”

It didn’t take long for the Islanders to return to the domination they have shown for most of the first three games.

The key play happened less than two minutes after Guentzel’s goal.

Off a bouncing puck in the offensive zone, Kris Letang stepped up to stop a clearing attempt by defenseman Scott Mayfield. The puck hopped off Letang’s stick, though, and Mayfield bumped it ahead to send teammates Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle on a two-on-one the other way. Eberle scored, as he did in all four games of the series.

“I tried to get it deep and get in there,” Letang said. “I think it was more of a (cluster) at the blue line. I don’t know what really happened. Guys ran into each other.”

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead in the last three games of the series, but it never lasted more than three minutes.

“Momentum goes one way and goes the other way,” Letang said. “It seems like when we got one goal ahead, we allowed two. We’re trailing, and we’re trying to get back into it and it’s a hard game. They play hard.”

The second Islanders goal came late in the first period as a result of a relentless forecheck.

Tom Kuhnhackl was the first forward into the Penguins zone, pinning defenseman Marcus Pettersson up against the end boards. Josh Bailey was the next player on the scene, and he grabbed the puck and centered to Nelson for a quick shot from the top of the crease.

This left the Penguins in the most familiar position of all, spending shift after shift trying to erase an Islanders lead.

They had their chances. Crosby hit a post. A Phil Kessel shot toward an empty cage hit Mayfield in the leg. Bailey ended it with an empty-netter in the final minute.

“They were all close games,” Letang said. “We missed tons of chances. We hits posts. We had a wide-open net. It feels like it was those type of games every night. They just defended way harder. I think they wanted it more than us.”