On one hand, it was so encouraging.
On another, it was so demoralizing. And familiar.
The Pittsburgh Penguins bounced back from perhaps their worst outing of the season 24 hours earlier to dictate play on Long Island most of the evening, only to stumble in a 5-4 overtime loss against the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., on Tuesday.
Historically speaking, no franchise has haunted the Penguins quite like the Islanders.
And while this season has been a wonderful one for the Penguins, they have one pretty serious, identifiable problem: They don’t protect leads well.
Those long-term and short-term elements converged Tuesday.
The Penguins took the lead on three occasions in this meeting and outshot the Islanders, 35-23.
However, Ryan Pulock’s very stoppable shot beat Stuart Skinner with 4:36 remaining in the third period, evening the score at 4-4.
Bo Horvat took advantage of a Penguins mishap to end the game on a breakaway 52 seconds into overtime.
Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov, Bryan Rust and Justin Brazeau scored for the Penguins.
This performance was in stark contrast to Monday night’s, when the Penguins played arguably their worst game of the season, losing at home to the Ottawa Senators. That performance was effortless at best.
The Penguins were a much different, better team against the Islanders. There is a very real possibility that these teams will meet in the opening round of the playoffs, and the Penguins should feel encouraged by how they carried play on the road.
While the Penguins showcased considerable speed and energy in this game, they didn’t always play smart, and they did not receive good goaltending.
In the end, the performance wasn’t quite good enough to topple the Islanders, who pulled within a point of the Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins have one more game before the Olympic break, as they’ll take on the Sabres in Buffalo on Thursday.
Ten postgame observations
• Stuart Skinner has suddenly cooled off.
The goaltender has allowed 10 goals in his past two games and nine goals in the past 73 minutes of action. No, they were hardly all his fault. The Penguins have been pretty loose defensively for a few games now.
But Skinner has to stop the Pulock shot. That’s a really bad goal, and it came at a bad moment.
I also thought his rebound control — which has been a strength — on Horvat’s goal in the first period was poor.
Skinner has played a significant role in the Penguins’ terrific play of late, but this was probably his worst game in a Penguins uniform. The Penguins were the better team but didn’t get two points largely because Skinner wasn’t sharp.
To his credit, he took full responsibility.
“I didn’t feel like I played very well,” he said. “I think the guys deserved a lot better, especially with how they worked. They always kept the lead. I definitely needed to be better for this group.”
• It wasn’t a glowing night for the Penguins’ blue line, which is without Kris Letang and Jack St. Ivany.
Erik Karlsson was much better than he was a night earlier, but that is setting a pretty low bar.
Ryan Shea, so good all season, endured a rough game and was unable to sweep the puck from the goal mouth on Horvat’s first goal. Brett Kulak didn’t look so hot in overtime. Ilya Solovyov badly screened Skinner on Mathew Barzal’s third-period goal.
Simply not a good night for the Penguins’ defensemen.
• Let’s not lose track of this: If Skinner makes a routine save against Pulock late in the third period, I am probably writing an article that possesses a completely different tone.
The Penguins took it to the Islanders for most of the game. They looked dead in the water against Ottawa, out of gas. That they were able to muster so much energy all night is probably an encouraging thing.
This was not a bad performance from the Penguins. They weren’t necessarily sharp, nor was their decision-making good. But they played harder than the Islanders for most of the night, and they played faster.
It was a classic game that was simply missing some of the finer details. And goaltending.
• Egor Chinakhov scored another goal. No news there. It’s becoming a nightly occurrence.
But I’m not going to be so kind to the second line.
Oh, it’s the Penguins’ best line right now, no question. But there was easily too much Harlem Globetrotters in the respective games of Chinakhov, Evgeni Malkin and Tommy Novak. That trio passed up a considerable amount of good looks.
Yes, that is the Penguins’ best line. And yes, it’s a very good line. But if it’s to be a great line, there needs to be an assertiveness and willingness to shoot the puck more. Novak is probably the biggest offender, but he’s not alone.
• There is a lot going on with Malkin.
He’s having a great season, unquestionably. He’s also playing through a left shoulder injury, something that is taking a great deal of courage. He is largely to be applauded.
However, Malkin has been turning the puck over with reckless abandon during the past week. It needs to stop. He was terrible in his own territory against the Islanders and placed a pass right on Barzal’s blade.
• Sidney Crosby struggled against the Senators on Monday. It was curious seeing him play so poorly.
He was much better in this game, picking up an assist on Rust’s goal and nearly scoring a highlight-reel goal in the first period when he skated around 18-year-old phenom Matthew Schaefer, only to be robbed by Ilya Sorokin.
Crosby left the game briefly when he endured a butt-end from the stick of Jean-Gabriel Pageau during a faceoff. (Eddie Olczyk said on the TNT broadcast that this shouldn’t have been a penalty. I couldn’t possibly disagree more. I’m sure it was by accident, but you can’t just butt-end someone in the stomach like that.)
So, I’d say this game was a step in the right direction for Crosby. He was much better, but he’s not all the way back from his funk just yet.
• I don’t know if it was home cooking in Vancouver or maybe a surge of confidence from lighting the lamp twice in his hometown. But ever since the Penguins played in Vancouver 10 days ago, Ben Kindel has been a different, better player. His skating was off the charts against the Islanders. Kindel’s speed routinely gave the Islanders fits.
What a player.
• The big men, Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha, played well.
Brazeau expertly set up Mantha for the first goal. It was the 20th goal of the season for Mantha, who is making himself plenty of money right now.
In the third period, Brazeau showed off his nifty hands to put the Penguins ahead 4-3 with a redirection.
I haven’t liked Brazeau’s game in recent weeks. He’s looked a step slow, and his scoring touch has slowed.
This was a nice performance.
• Bryan Rust made his return from a three-game suspension and made his presence felt all night.
I did not, however, love Rickard Rakell’s game. He seemed a step slow all night. His game has been improving in recent weeks, but I didn’t think he played well in this one.
• This would be a fascinating playoff series. We’re still way, way too far away to be breaking down potential matchups, but let’s be honest: The Penguins and Islanders have been locked in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the Metropolitan Division for a while. It’s possible. And it would be entertaining hockey. It always is.