Penguins routed by Islanders in miserable return from Christmas break

The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders met for the first time this season on Tuesday at the UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.

And it was the first meeting with the Penguins for Lane Lambert as the Islanders’ head coach but not his first against the long-time Metropolitan Division rivals. He previously served as an associate coach for the team in the four preceding seasons, including two that resulted in the Islanders eliminating the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs (2019 and 2021).

So, he has a pretty firm grasp of what the Penguins are about.

“We know them quite well,” Lambert said to media in Elmont following his team’s morning skate on Tuesday. “Certainly, high-end skill, speed, play with good structure and play with good special teams.”

The Penguins are definitely all of those things that Lambert outlined.

They’re also a team that had a four-day break for Christmas and on Tuesday, they resembled a group burning off remaining vacation days before the new year as they were routed 5-1 by the Islanders in one of their ugliest defeats of 2022-23.

At least that was the suggestion of Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.

“It might have been our worst game of the year,” Sullivan said to media in Elmont.

To compound matters, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel did not record a shift beyond the 1 minute, 45 second mark of the second period due to an undisclosed injury. Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on Ruhwedel’s status beyond acknowledging that he was being evaluated.

The loss was the third in four games for the Penguins (1-2-1) who were so dysfunctional in this contest, Sullivan began shuffling his lines midway through the second period in a futile pursuit of something resembling organization.

There was scant cohesion by the visitors seemingly from the opening faceoff as the hosts needed only 63 seconds to take the first lead.

From the left point of his own zone, Penguins forward Jason Zucker lost the puck after failing to connect on a short-area pass with linemate Evgeni Malkin. Islanders forward Brock Nelson managed to keep the puck in the Penguins’ zone and fed a pass to the left circle, where Islanders forward Anders Lee sniped a wrister against the grain and beat goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker on the far side for his 12th goal of the season. Nelson had the only assist.

A would-be goal by Islanders forward Casey Cizikas at 4:16 of the first period went through a swing of procedural changes before it was ultimately determined he did not score legally. Cizikas jammed a puck in past the left post and Jarry’s left skate as officials halted play and signaled no goal. A league-initiated video review determined Cizikas put the puck over the goal line in a timely fashion for a legit score. That prompted a coach’s challenge from the Penguins, who claimed the sequence was offside. A quick review confirmed the Penguins’ suspicions and kept it a one-goal contest.

The Penguins shook off that shaky start and tied the game 1-1 at 15:13 thanks to rookie defenseman P.O Joseph’s second goal. After Malkin beat Cizikas on a faceoff in the Islanders’ left circle, Joseph corralled the puck at the left point, surveyed for a shooting land and fired a wrister that hopped off the ice and deflected by goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s glove on the far side. Penguins forward Brock McGinn supplied an effective screen on the sequence. There were no assists.

Any notion of the Penguins being competitive in this contest disippated quickly into the second period as Islanders forward Mathew Barzal scored his sixth goal only 50 seconds in. From the right corner of the offensive zone, Islanders forward Josh Bailey fended off Penguins forward Teddy Blueger and slipped a pass to the right dot, where forward Hudson Fasching chopped a one-timer. Establishing position just below the right hashmarks against Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, Barzal reached forward with his stick and deflected the puck past Jarry’s glove, putting the puck off the left post and then into the cage. Assists went to Fasching and Bailey.

It became a 3-1 game at 11:32 of the second when Bailey scored his sixth goal. Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov went on a journey up the wall and behind the net while fending off passive pressure from Penguins forward Jeff Carter as well as defenseman Kris Letang and Dumoulin. From the right of the cage, Romanov fed a pass to defenseman Noah Dobson above the right circle. With the Penguins out of sorts in their defensive structure, Dobson faked a shot, pulled his stick down then fed a clever pass to the left of the crease, where Bailey was able to stop the puck and lift an easy wrister into a mostly vacant cage. Dobson and Romanov registered assists.

The Islanders began to pour it on at 16:42 of the middle fame thanks to another goal by Barzal. After Fasching won a puck battle on the Penguins’ end boards against Letang and defensive partner Marcus Pettersson, the puck bounced around a bit to the right of the crease before Barzal corralled it low in the right circle and roofed a wrister over Jarry’s left shoulder on the near side. No assists were credited.

A goalmouth scramble put the Islanders up by four 3:33 into the final period. From the right point of the offensive zone, Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock launched a slapper on net that Jarry made a save on. The rebound hopped to the slot, where Nelson settled it and fired a quick wrister at the cage. After another save by Jarry, Lee cleaned up the loose puck in the crease with a forehand shot. Nelson and Pulock had assists.

Jarry was under duress most of the contest as he stopped 38 of 43 shots and his record fell to 15-4-4.

He was one of the few members of his team who looked ready to compete on Tuesday.

“We didn’t have our best effort tonight,” Carter said. “It could have been a lot higher from everybody.”

Notes:

• The Penguins’ power play failed to score on its only opportunity during Tuesday’s contest. That snapped a streak of 10 consecutive games with a power-play goal for the Penguins. Their last contest without a goal on the man advantage was a 3-2 overtime home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 29.

• The 43 shots Jarry faced were the second-most he has seen this season. The high-water mark remains the 47 he faced in a 6-3 road loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 24.

• The Penguins were 3 for 3 on the penalty kill and have killed the past 22 opposing power-play opportunities they have faced.

• The Penguins are now 4 for 5 on coach’s challenges this season.

• Penguins forwards Josh Archibald and Ryan Poehling were scratched due to undisclosed injuries while defenseman Mark Friedman was a healthy scratch.

• Friedman was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Tuesday morning.

• Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom left the game at 18:33 of the first period after dropping Ruhwedel with a thunderous check. While Wahlstrom “won” the collision, he appeared to be injured in the process. There was no immediate word on his status.

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