The Pittsburgh Penguins saw their four-game winning streak come to an end with a 4-2 loss against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Islanders, in pursuit of a Wild Card playoff spot, rallied in the third period to secure the victory.
Joona Koppanen opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with his first NHL goal, followed by Sidney Crosby’s 24th goal of the season, giving the Penguins a 2-0 lead going into the final period. However, New York responded with four unanswered goals.
“We just beat ourselves,” said Crosby. “We made some mistakes. Obviously, they’re going to push… but there just wasn’t a lot of pushback (from us).”
New York capitalized early in the third period when Kyle Palmieri scored his 21st goal of the season shortly after a faceoff win at center ice. Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan commented on this play: “They win the faceoff at center ice, and it turns into a 2-on-0 down the other end. It’s just playing a game with not a whole lot of purpose.”
Despite holding onto a 2-1 lead, Sullivan noted that his team failed to respond effectively: “We still have a lead. We’ve got to respond. We got to respond and play the right way, and we didn’t.”
The Islanders continued their offensive push with Noah Dobson tying the game at 2-2 before Pierre Engvall gave New York the lead late in regulation. Simon Holmstrom sealed New York’s victory with an empty-net goal.
“They were even-keeled the whole game,” said Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. “They were defending hard, and I think they were just putting a lot of pucks on net.”
Jarry managed 34 saves on 37 shots despite facing intense pressure from New York during their power play opportunities.
Sullivan praised Jarry’s performance: “I thought Jars was terrific all night long.”
Koppanen’s milestone came as he was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton due to injuries within Pittsburgh’s lineup. On his debut, Koppanen reflected: “Great feeling, of course, but we’re all here for a win, so can’t be too happy with that.”
Crosby added another memorable moment by surpassing Wayne Gretzky for fourth-most points with one franchise following his goal late in the first period.
Although Pittsburgh created several scoring chances during their power plays in the second period, they ended up going 0-for-3 on those opportunities for the night.
Crosby highlighted what went well initially: “I thought we were forechecking well, had a lot of zone time… Probably just puck possession.”
Pittsburgh will next face Columbus on Friday evening as they conclude their five-game homestand.
