Penguins Blow 4-2 Lead, Fall To Isles 5-4

The Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the New York Islanders 5-4 last night at UBS Arena.

Forward Anders Lee and forward Brock Nelson each had two goals and an assist, and goalie Ilya Sorokin made 40 saves for the Islanders, who improved to 28-23-7. The Islanders won their first game since February 7th. They were 0-1-2 in their past three games. They are now tied with Pittsburgh in the wild card spot.

Forward Rickard Rakell scored two goals, and forward Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist. Goalie Casey DeSmith made 23 saves for the Penguins, who dropped to 27-18-9. The Penguins host the Islanders on Monday.

Twelve minutes into the first period, Crosby gave the Penguins the 1-0 lead after Crosby poked home a rebound Sorokin couldn’t control. He scored his 25th goal of the season. It also is his 41st career regular-season goal against the Isles. Only Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has more against the Isles, with 42. At 13:56, Lee tied the game at 1-1 with his 20th of the season by backhanding the puck off DeSmith’s chest.

Less than four minutes into the second, Rakell would give the Pens the 2-1 lead, and then a minute and 42 seconds later, forward Jason Zucker would give the Penguins the 3-1 lead. At 14:25, Nelson made it 3-2 to extend his point streak to 12 games and score in his fourth straight game. At 18:57, Rakell would score again to make it 4-2 Penguins. Thirty-five seconds later, Lee would score again to put the Isles back within one goal.

Just over five minutes into the third period, Nelson scored on the power play to tie the game at 4-4 for the Isles. With two minutes and 43 seconds left in the game, forward Zach Parise, in his 1,200th NHL game, gave the Isles the 5-4 lead. Parise became the 12th active player to play in 1,200 games. He also scored his 82nd career game-winning goal, which is the fourth most among active skaters, and two behind Crosby. Alex Ovechkin has the most with 124.

Sidney Crosby now has 19 points in his last 12 games, and Rickard Rakell has 21 goals on the season and three goals in his past two games.

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