Islanders Hand the Penguins Their Second Straight Loss 5-4 in Overtime 2/20/2024

Photo via NHL.com

The New York Islanders visited the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, February 20th. The game went back and forth, the Islanders ended up with a lead until Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O’Connor had scored just 56 seconds apart to tie the game. However, the Penguins unfortunately lost their second straight game in overtime, 5-4.

Islanders lineup against the Penguins:

Lee – Horvat – Barzal

Engvall – Nelson – Palmieri

Holmstrom – Pageau – Wahlstrom

Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck

Romanov – Dobson

Pelech – Pulock

Reilly – Mayfield

Sorokin

Varlamov

Penguins lineup against the Islanders:

Rakell – Crosby – Rust

O’Connor – Malkin – Phillips

Smith – Eller – Puustinen

Harkins – Carter – White

Joseph – Letang

Pettersson – Karlsson

Graves – Ruhwedel

Nedeljkovic

Jarry

   The Penguins opened the scoring at 7:12 of the first period. Marcus Pettersson recorded his second goal of the season when he scored a one-timer from the right face-off circle. In the remainder of the first, Pittsburgh held their one-nothing lead.

   Brock Nelson tied the game 1-1 early at 16:20 of the middle frame. He skated past both Erik Karlsson and Marcus Pettersson, to the slot and shot a backhand to get his 23rd. Putting New York ahead, Mat Barzal flicked in a wrist shot on a breakaway after he exited the penalty box. Barzal extended his eight-game point streak to 11 points (five goals, six assists). Karlsson turned the puck over behind the net and Simon Holmstrom scored his 12th goal of the season with a wraparound. Cutting the Islanders’ lead to 3-2, Lars Eller scored a snap shot that deflected off Adam Pelech late into the second period.

   At 9:18, extending the lead to 4-2, Mike Reilly scored a wrist shot… Valtteri Puustinen scored his first goal of the season on a rebound. Puustinen stuffed it in from the crease to cut it at 4-3. Drew O’Connor tied it at 4-4 on a cross-ice pass that made it in off Anders Lee’s skate in front just 56 seconds apart from Puustinen’s goal.

   Only 57 seconds into overtime, Adam Pelech recorded his first goal of the season for the 5-4 final to hand the Penguins their second straight loss.

Sidney Crosby on the Penguins’ loss in overtime: “It wasn’t an ideal situation to be in but we battled hard – I think it’s hard. We’re kind of in between, it changes. Obviously, you don’t want to give up a line like that… typically you don’t like a lot of guys skating like that but I think we’re in between line changes too. Take the point and move on. We need points, so we got one and we got to continue to grow.”

Mat Barzal on the team’s win in Pittsburgh: “It’s definitely a big win for our confidence. Coming on Pittsburgh on the road, it’s never an easy win… They played well and anytime that happens, it’s a tough game. It’s just a big confidence booster for our group. We really needed that.”

Notes:

– Erik Karlsson had an assist, reaching 800 NHL career points. He became the ninth-fastest defenseman to record 800 NHL career points in NHL history.

– Drew O’Connor stats: 53 GP  7 Goals  11 Assists  18 Points

– Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for Pittsburgh and Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves for New York.

– Mat Barzal, Brock Nelson, and Adam Pelech each had a goal and an assist.


Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Nikolaj Ehlers to Test Unrestricted Free Agency on July 1st

Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers informed the team that he will test Unrestricted Free Agency when it opens on July 1st. The news comes as a surprise to some, but not to others. The 29-year-old, Danish-born forward was drafted ninth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and has played all 10 of his NHL […]

Read More
Anton Frondell

2025 NHL Draft: Top 8 Swedish Prospects

With the 2024-25 NHL regular season concluded, it is time to begin taking a look at prospects for this year’s draft class. While this year’s draft class does not appear to have the same level of elite talent as previous ones did, there is no shortage of solid picks for teams to keep an eye […]

Read More
Aleksei Medvedev 2025 Draft Profile

2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Aleksei Medvedev

Aleksei Medvedev is a 6’3″ left-catching goaltender from St. Petersburg, Russia. He played for the London Knights during the 2024-25 season and was an integral part of the team’s success, leading them to clinch the division, conference, and OHL regular season championships. Medvedev was awarded the Dave Pinkney Trophy alongside teammate Austin Elliott, an award […]

Read More