For New York, Brock Nelson scored his 24th goal of the year. The Islanders also had goals from Mike Reilly, Simon Holmstrom, and Mathew Barzal. The Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin, who has been brutally defeated by Pittsburgh in his first two games this season, stopped 37 shots.
In the third period, the Penguins overcame a two-goal deficit thanks to goals from Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O’Connor, separated by just 54 seconds. For Pittsburgh, Marcus Pettersson scored his third goal of the year. For the Penguins, Lars Eller tallied his tenth goal. Despite making 28 saves, Nedeljkovic was unable to stop Pelech’s game-winning strike.
With the man advantage, Pittsburgh is 30th in the league; the play that culminated in Barzal’s game-winning goal in the second half was a microcosm of the team’s performance thus far. For nearly the whole two minutes, the Penguins passed the puck around the perimeter instead of putting it on the net. Just as Barzal was coming out of the box, New York was able to clear the ball, and the winger sprinted in to beat Nedeljkovic with his glove to put the Islanders up.
Due in large part to a power play that, despite its star power, can’t seem to find consistency, the Penguins are 1-4-1 in their last six games and are fighting to stay on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference playoffs.
