Penguins can't protect lead, see winning streak end with shootout loss to Islanders
A three-game winning streak is hardly a sufficient reason to celebrate.
But for the 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins, it remains an accomplishment beyond their grasp. Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., snapped a modest sequence of two consecutive wins.
A shootout goal by Islanders forward Bo Horvat was the difference.
Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic's record fell to 2-2-2 after he unofficially made 23 saves on 26 shots in regulation (he did not face any shots in overtime) then stopped two of three attempts in the shootout.
Penguins forwards Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby as well as defenseman Kris Letang were denied on their shootout attempts.
Following a scoreless opening frame, Crosby opened the scoring 5 minutes, 25 seconds into the second period with his sixth goal of the season.
Along New York's end boards, a forechecking Rakell hounded Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and forced him to turn the puck over to Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin who inadvertently deflected it with his stick it from the goal line on the right wing to the slot. Crosby was in the right place at the right time and immediately backhanded the errant puck off the left sleeve of goaltender Ilya Sorokin's jersey and into the cage.
The Islanders issued a coach's challenge on the basis of the sequence being offside, but officials found no evidence of said accusations and gave a delay of game penalty to the hosts.
Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri's sixth goal tied the score at 12:21 of the second period.
From the center point of the offensive zone, Horvat chucked a wrister through a screen composed of Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and Islanders forward Maxim Tsyplakov. Nedeljkovic made an initial save with his right leg but allowed a rebound to pop up into the air. The puck returned to earth, landing to the right of the cage where Palmieri slipped behind Letang, choked up on his stick and bunted in a forehand shot by an unoriented Nedeljkovic.
Malkin restored a lead for the Penguins with his fourth goal during a power-play sequence 76 seconds later.
Accepting a pass at the center point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk considered his options and deemed a forehand pass to the right circle as his best choice. Malkin validated that faith by cracking a one-timer that clipped the upper-left corner of Sorokin's left pad and found an avenue through the goaltender's five hole.
Penguins forward Michael Bunting's first goal came 7:44 into the third period.
Off a stretch pass by Penguins forward Noel Acciari, linemate Jesse Puljujarvi gained the offensive zone on the right wing and tucked a forehand pass by Islanders defenseman Grant Hutton for Bunting, surging down the slot. Attacking the cage on a partial breakaway, Bunting snapped a wrister off the left post and behind Sorokin's right skate.
The Islanders persisted and made it a one-score game again at 9:39 of the third frame when forward Simon Holmstrom scored his first goal during a power-play scenario.
From the left half wall, Palmieri lobbed a wrister on net that was rejected by Nedeljkovic's left foot. The rebound kicked out to the slot, where Holmstrom claimed it on his backhand, dragged it to his backhand and avoided a sliding Pettersson before roofing a shot by a scrambling Nedeljkovic's glove.
Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau's third goal tied the score at 12:48 of the third with a wrister from the Penguins' right circle.
