The New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 last night at PPG Paints Arena.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 44 saves for the Islanders, who are now 29-24-7. It was the team’s first game without forward Mathew Barzal, who is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Forwards Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker each scored for the Pens, and goalie Tristan Jarry made 28 saves in his first game back from an upper-body injury. He was injured on January 22nd versus the New Jersey Devils and missed the last nine games. The Penguins are now 27-20-9 and have lost their last three games.
Just over six minutes into the game, Guentzel tapped the puck home to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead.
Just over five minutes into the second period, forward Brock Nelson scored his 25th goal of the season to tie the game up at 1-1. At 12:26, Zucker scored a power-play goal to give the Penguins the 2-1 lead. At 17:15, goalie Ilya Sorokin made a save of the year against Penguins defenseman Kris Letang to keep the game tied up at 1-1. At the end of the second period, the shots were 37-24 in favor of Pittsburgh.
Just eight minutes into the third period, forward Bo Horvat tied the game up at 2-2 with a sharp-angle shot that beat Jarry. A minute and 41 seconds later, forward Anders Lee gave the Islanders the 3-2 lead. With 25 seconds left in the game, Nelson scored his second of the game in the empty net to make it 4-2.
The Pens are 0-3-0 against the Islanders this season and 0-6-3 in their last nine games versus Metropolitan Division teams. Islanders forward Arnaud Durandeau made his NHL debut and had four shots, two hits, and a shot block in 14:09 of ice time.
