Empty Thoughts: Islanders 5, Penguins 4 (OT)

Observations from the Penguins’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Islanders:

When the NHL instituted three-on-three overtime prior to the 2015-16 season in the name of avoiding those unappetizing shootouts, it was automatically assumed the skilled and fleet Penguins would benefit.

And sure enough, they did.

In the first three seasons of three-on-three overtime, they had an outstanding record of 34-14 with 14 games going to a shootout. Given the talents of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Phil Kessel as well Matt Murray or Marc-Andre Fleury in net, it was a domain the adroit Penguins were seemingly custom-made for.

But, for a variety of reasons, all that talent and skill just didn’t thrive in overtime last season as the Penguins slumped to a 7-9 mark with three games going to shootout.

This season, following Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena, they are now 3-3 in such contests with one game advancing to the shootout.

“We’ve got to get better at three-on-three,” said defenseman Justin Schultz, whose turnover in overtime led to the game-winning goal. “That’s one thing that sticks out. For whatever reason, it’s just a struggle for us right now. We’ve just got to figure that out.”

Malkin, who has the second-most overtime goals in franchise history with 12, had perhaps the most detailed theory as to the Penguins’ overtime shortcomings over the past 14 months.

“When we play five-on-five, we play differently,” Malkin said. “Systems. We don’t play man to man. In (overtime), three-on-three, it’s man on man. We’re a little bit confused. In the (defensive) zone, on five-on-five, we never play man on man. But still, it’s our job. You see an (assignment) who you play, you need to stay with him close. Maybe we need to start to work a little bit more in practice.”

Coach Mike Sullivan pretty much went scorched earth in critiquing the Penguins’ play in the overtime period on Tuesday.

“I didn’t think we were very good at all,” Sullivan said. “I just thought our details were brutal. We have to be better. There’s not tons of strategy in overtime. There’s only three people on the ice. Everybody, you’ve got to defend when it’s called upon, you’ve got to support the puck, you’ve got to out-change the (opponent) and we did none of the above. And we struggled in the faceoff circle as well. Overtime is a lot about possession. When you lose the faceoffs, you’re fighting for that possession constantly. It started there I think there. We’ve got to be better on the faceoffs but our attention to detail just wasn’t there.”

What happened

The Penguins claimed the first lead of the game with a power-play score at 11:34 of the first period. Forward Evgeni Malkin slinked his way down the right wing wall and centered a pass to the right of the cage where forward Jake Guentzel on-touched it back through the slot to the left circle. Forward Bryan Rust corralled it then ripped a wrister past Varlamov’s glove hand. It was Rust’s seventh goal of the season in only 10 games. Guentzel and Malkin netted assists.

They made it a 2-0 game at 16:18 of the first. Fending off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech for a puck behind the cage, Tanev allowed McCann to claim it and deal a pass to defenseman John Marino at the right point. Marino chopped a one-timer towards the net where Tanev was able to deflect it through Varlamov’s five hole. Assists went to Marino and McCann.

The Islanders go on the scoreboard at 2:39 of the second period. Controlling a puck at the left point, Islanders forward Brock Nelson snapped off a pass to defenseman Nick Leddy low in the left corner. Drawing in McCann and Penguins defenseman Juuso Riikola, Leddy fed a pass from the goal line to forward Anthony Beauvillier in the left circle. Taking a moment to settle the puck, Beauvillier gripped and ripped a wrister past Murray’s glove hand on the far side. Leddy and Nelson collected assists.

Things were tied, 2-2, at 5:30 of the second. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, former Penguins forward Derick Brassard pulled up in the left circle, turned backward and fed a pass to Leddy at the left point. Leddy fired a one-timer which Nelson deflected from the slot past Murray’s glove hand. Assists were credited to Leddy and Brassard.

The Penguins reclaimed the lead at 14:31 of the second. After Tanev and forward Dominik Kahun outworked Pelech and Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock for the puck behind New York’s cage, Kahun fed a pass to Pettersson at the right point where defenseman Marcus Pettersson fired a one-timer which deflected wide. Reclaiming the puck behind the net, Tanev was able to shuffle a forehand wraparound shot off of Pelech’s left skate and past Varlamov’s left skate. Pettersson and Kahun netted assists.

It became a 4-2 game with another power-play score. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk pulled up at the point, allowed things to developed and centered a pass to the slot for Guentzel. Settling the puck, Guentzel fired a wrister past Varlamov’s right skate. Assists went to Galchenyuk and Malkin.

The Islanders pulled within one at 15:41 of the third. Just as a New York power play expired, Islanders forward Jordan Eberle motored toward the cage up the left wing and drew four Penguins defenders toward the crease, opening up the slot. Eberle snapped a backhanded pass between the circles, where forward Josh Bailey fired a wrister over a sprawling Murray. Eberly and defenseman Devon Toews collected assists.

It was tied again, 4-4, late in the third at the 18:28 mark. Working with an extra attacker, Pulock fed a pass from center point to above the right circle for Brassard who one-touched it back to Pulock who had a one-timer teed up and ka-boomed a shot which appeared to deflect off the shin of Penguins forward Teddy Blueger and sail past Murray’s glove. Assists went to Brassard and Leddy.

In overtime, Schultz tried to feed a pass up from his own left corner up the wall to Guentzel but had it stolen by Beauvillier who fed a pass to Nelson in the right circle. Nelson ripped a wrister which trickled through Murray’s five hole and came free just above the crease. Nelson followed up on the rebound and shuffled it into the cage with a backhander. The lone assist was given to Beauvillier.

Statistically speaking

-The Islanders led in shots, 42-31.

-Rust, Eberle, Pulock, Nelson and Islanders forward Anders Lee each led the game with five shots.

-Toews led the game with 23:36 of ice time on 25 shifts.

-Marino led the Penguins with 22:27 of ice time on 31 shifts.

-The Islanders controlled faceoffs, 39-32 (55 percent).

-Islanders forward Casey Cizikas was 12 for 22 (55 percent).

-Malkin was 13 for 26 (50 percent).

-Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk led the game with five blocked shots.

-Schultz led the Penguins with three blocked shots.

Historically speaking

-It’s been a loooong time since the Penguins lost a regular season overtime game against the Penguins. How long?

Like, “Frank Pietrangelo was in net” long.

Before Tuesday, the Penguins’ most recent loss of this variety to the Islanders came in a 4-3 defeat across the street at the Civic Arena on Dec. 23, 1990. Islanders forward Patrick Flatley completed a hat trick with a score on Pietrangelo.

Only three members of the Penguins lineup on Tuesday were even alive when that game was played (Defenseman Jack Johnson, Schultz and Malkin).

-Guentzel (175 points) surpassed forward Pat Boutette (174) for 46th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

-Malkin (1,013 points) surpassed former Black Hawks/Blackhawks/Rangers forward Steve Larmer (1,012) for 84th place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

Randomly speaking

-The Penguins were two for four on the power play. This was their first game with multiple power-play goals since a 7-4 road win against the Wild on Oct. 12.

-While Bailey’s goal was scored just as a penalty expired, it was an even-strength goal. As a result, the Penguins went 3 for 3 on the penalty kill and have not yielded the opponent to score on the man advantage in 10 consecutive games.

-With two goals, Brandon Tanev recorded multiple points in consecutive games for the first time in his five-year career.

-Galchenyuk has a three-game scoring streak with all assists.

-Murray made 37 saves on a season-high 42 shots against.

-The Islanders won the first coach’s challenge they’ve issued this season when the cited a would-be short-handed goal by Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese as being offside at 6:35 of the first period.

-The Islanders tied a franchise record by recording a team point in their 15th consecutive game (14-0-1).

Publicly speaking

-Rust was blunt in his critique of officials after his tripping minor on Leddy at 13:37 of the third period which preceded New York’s third goal:

“The (referee) thought I tripped him. I strongly disagree. Terrible call. Terrible.”

-Sullivan was less than complimentary on that vital sequence:

“It’s a tough time in the game to take a penalty. The third goal I think was the killer. For the most part, we did a really good job on the penalty kill. The penalty is about to expire. It’s a two-against-four rush. We just have to do a better job.”

Schultz summed up the game pretty well:

“It (stinks). I thought we were in control there. It doesn’t feel good right now. We’ll learn from it and try to get better for Thursday.”

-Ditto Murray:

“It’s a tough one. It’s a tough one for sure. It felt like we had it right there and just couldn’t get it done.”

-Sullivan wasn’t terribly upset over how his team defended the six-on-five sequence late in regulation:

“For the most part, we did a pretty good job. We got tired at the end. There were a couple of icings. We couldn’t get a line change. That was the tough part. If we could gain the blue line, if we could get a change, I think we would have been all right. That line was on the ice for a fair amount of time. But having said that, they didn’t get anything up until that one shot. We just weren’t quite as diligent.”

Schultz was curt in describing his turnover in overtime:

“I tried to pass it up to (Guentzel), they got it and a two-on-one and they put it in.”

-Sullivan sang the praises of Murray:

“He was terrific down the stretch. Late in the game, he was terrific. In the overtime, he was really good. In the overtime, he was really good. He made a bunch of saves in the overtime. I thought he had a really good game.”

-Murray sang the praises of the Islanders:

“They kept coming. You’ve got to give credit to them too. That’s a good team over there. They’re on that run for a reason. They kept coming at us and gave us all we could handle.”

Visually speaking

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights:

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