Empty Thoughts: Islanders 2, Penguins 0

Observations from the Penguins’ 2-0 loss to the Islanders:

Frankly, no one wants to talk about this game, at least from a Penguins’ perspective. Coach Mike Sullivan sure didn’t want to chat about it during his postgame press conference.

It was a lousy way for the Penguins to potentially close out their history at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

With the Islanders moving to a new building next season — barring anything unforeseen during a pandemic — the Penguins played their final regular season game in that venue.

With the exception of a potential playoff matchup, there will be no more trips to this lovable dump of a building full of asbestos and memories.

Most of those memories weren’t good for the Penguins considering they finished with a 51-58-12 regular season record there.

And when you add in the playoff series losses in 1975, 1982, 1993 and 2019, this was just a bad place most nights for the Penguins.

Game No. 121 wasn’t the worst for the Penguins. But it was pretty ugly. After pouring every ounce of their souls into that thrilling comeback win Saturday, the Penguins seemed completely spent for Sunday’s game that began less than 20 hours later.

The Islanders were a bit sluggish too, but they didn’t seem nearly as anemic as the Penguins who rarely seemed like a threat to score.

In a lot of ways, it was a fitting way for the Penguins to depart Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum considering how much trouble they’ve had in that crusty old barn.

Good night from Long Island: pic.twitter.com/AsDfktyNA4

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) May 12, 2013

What happened

The Islanders took the game’s first lead late in the first period at the 19:20 mark on a power play. Controlling the puck in the right circle of the offensive zone, Islanders forward Josh Bailey faked a shot, then fed a pass to defenseman Nick Leddy. Surveying the zone for a moment, Leddy dealt a pass to the left dot for forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who zipped a one-timer past goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove on the far side for his third goal. Leddy and Bailey got assists.

It became 2-0 at 14:56 of the second period with another power-play goal. Taking a seam pass in the right circle of the offensive zone, Bailey controlled the puck, allowed a play to develop and fed a pass to forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, also in the circle. Pageau chopped a one-timer through a stick check by Penguins forward Bryan Rust, and the puck hit twine via DeSmith’s five hole. Assists went to Bailey and Wahlstrom.

Statistically speaking

• The Islanders controlled shots, 30-20.

• Penguins forward Brandon Tanev and Islanders forward Brock Nelson each led the game with four shots.

• Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson led the game with 23:08 of ice time on 23 shifts.

• Defenseman Ryan Pulock led the Islanders with 22:49 of ice time on 27 shifts.

• The Islanders led the game in faceoffs, 30-24 (56%).

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was 14 for 25 (56%).

• Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was 7 for 11 (64%).

• Penguins defensemen John Marino, Mike Matheson, Rust, Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield, Lee and Pulock each led the game with two blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• Considering the Penguins did not record a shot until 15:51 of the first period, the tone was set early on how this game would go from their perspective. They just looked completely lifeless throughout this contest.

• Very few aspects of the Penguins’ game were in the black, but the penalty kill’s struggles really came to a head in this. After giving up two goals on five opportunities by the Islanders’ power play, the Penguins’ penalty killers have now given up goals in 15 of the 20 games they have played this season.

What exactly is wrong with the penalty kill? It’s hard to say it’s the personnel. Many of the same players from last season’s unit that was one of the NHL’s better squads at a conversion rate of 82.1% are still in place.

That’s guys like Tanev, Marino, forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger and defenseman Kris Letang. The notable exception in that area is Jack Johnson who was bought out in October. For all his shortcomings, Johnson was a pretty stable entity on the penalty kill. That said, he wasn’t irreplaceable and Cody Ceci seems more than up to the task.

Either way, the personnel is mostly static.

Is it the scheme? Assistant coach Mike Vellucci, promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this past offseason, oversees the unit. And as the squad struggled early this season, players and coaches commented that there was still some acclimation to a new way of doing things. But more than six weeks into the season, those issues should be ironed out by now.

Additionally, the goaltending was inconsistent during the first few weeks of the season. Starter Tristan Jarry has leveled off his game over the past two weeks, but goals are still being yielded on the penalty kill.

Regardless of the reason(s), the penalty kill needs fixed.

• Trying to dissect and pick apart the lines and pairings in this game is like trying to figure out which is the muddiest pig on the farm. None of the Penguins’ skaters were clean after this effort.

• DeSmith was the lone bright spot in this game for the Penguins. He was pretty sharp after having not played since Feb. 11. He deserved a much better effort from those in front of him.

• The Islanders don’t have the most talent on their top power play, but they know their roles. Leddy controls things pretty well at the center point and the Islanders utilize the wingers in the circles quite effectively.

• As the ninth overall pick in 2008, it’s fair to say Bailey was expected to have a much higher ceiling than what he has offered throughout his career. That said, he is a steady and reliable winger who can give something in the range of 15 goals and 50 points in a normal season. He rarely misses games and is a great complement to a strong center.

Bailey has never been a Penguins killer the way players like Bobby Clarke or Eric Staal have been, but he always seems to give them trouble. The last two games were evidence of that.

Historically speaking

• How bad was this game for the Penguins? It was “The-Islanders’-first-shutout-of-the-Penguins-in-more-than-30-years” bad.

The Islanders’ last shutout of the Penguins was a 9-0 win at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 9, 1986. Kelly Hrudey made 27 saves against a lineup that included a second-year professional by the name of Mario Lemieux. As the score would suggest, the Penguins’ penalty kill had troubles that night as well, allowing three goals on four opportunities to an aging Islanders team that was just past its prime following its Stanley Cup dynasty days of the early 1980s.

• Sorokin’s shutout snapped a 189-game skid for the Islanders without a shutout against the Penguins.

• This was only the fifth shutout ever by the Islanders of the Penguins during the regular season:

March 2, 1980 - 0-0 tie – Glenn “Chico” Resch, 22 saves

Oct. 14, 1982 - 9-0 win – Billy Smith, 30 saves

Feb. 2, 1985 - 4-0 win - Kelly Hrudey, 26 saves

Jan. 9, 1986 - 9-0 win - Kelly Hrudey, 27 saves

Feb. 29, 2021 - 2-0 win - Ilya Sorokin, 20 saves

• The last rookie goaltender to shut out the Penguins was Scott Wedgewood who made 39 saves to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 3-0 road win on March 24, 2014.

• Sorokin (third round) was the third goaltender selected in the 2014 draft the Penguins have played this season. The others are Igor Shesterkin (fourth round) of the Rangers and Vitek Vanecek (second round) of the Capitals.

• The Penguins’ first game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was a shutout, a 5-0 win on Oct. 17, 1972. Goaltender Denis Herron made 24 saves in the victory. Forward Ken Schinkel scored two goals while linemate Ron Schock had three assists.

The box score:

Publicly speaking

• Sullivan was curt during his postgame press conference. On the penalty kill:

“It’s a number of things. It’s just not good enough. We’ve got to be better.”

• Sullivan was asked if there was anything to suggest his team would have such a poor start:

“No. No.”

• Sullivan again on the penalty kill:

“We are what we are. We’re giving up too many goals there. It’s not good enough.”

• Sullivan on DeSmith:

“Casey was good.”

• His players were a bit more verbose. Forward Evgeni Malkin ripped how the team started the game:

“For sure, it’s not our game. Zero shots for first (15:51), we should play better for sure. Everyone, forwards, (defensemen). It’s a really, really slow start.”

• Malkin on his team’s overall play:

“It’s work. If you see how (the) Islanders play tonight, they just work 60 minutes. They don’t play a pretty game. They play simple and win every battle in the offensive zone. They really work. If we (want) to win, we need to work too. Not how we played like (in) the first period.”

• DeSmith was asked what was wrong with the penalty kill and offered praise for the Islanders’ power play:

“Hard to say. … (The Islanders do) a really good job of having that flank option and they have a lot of good shooters off the flanks. Then they have that backdoor option too, so you have to respect that. They get pucks to the pocket as well. Tonight, obviously we get a bad bounce on the second one. Just stuff you really can’t control. So we just need a couple of bounces and clean a couple of things up.”

• Marino on the Penguins’ special teams woes:

“It’s frustrating for sure. Luckily enough, we’re still able to win games. Once we are able to figure out the special teams, hopefully, everything just starts clicking together. … It’s frustrating at times but you’ve just got to keep pushing through.”

• Malkin was pragmatic but optimistic about his play:

“Not good, again. I know it’s close. Every game, I have a chance to score. Every game we have a chance to score, my line too. But again, still need work. I hope … a couple of goals and help (the) team to win. Again, I’m not happy with my game right now. But it’s coming, I feel it.”

• Wahlstrom, a rookie, was reverential when speaking about playing Crosby and Malkin:

“Playing Sidney Crosby for the first time (last season), holy moly. That’s a pretty special player over there. I’ve learned just to play the right way, just keep going and have fun, enjoy the moment. I look across and see Malkin, Crosby, it’s really a special feeling being on the ice with those guys and just competing against them.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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