Empty Thoughts: Penguins 2, Islanders 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 2-1 win against the Islanders:

First things first, there was no substantive update on Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry following the game. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated he was being evaluated for an undisclosed injury while backup goaltender Casey DeSmith suggested Jarry’s ailment was not “anything too serious.”

Jarry left the game following the first period after the team’s medical staffers made a decision to remove him.

As far as the game goes, Penguins defenseman John Marino’s fingerprints were all over this victory.

But first, a trip down memory lane.

In the first professional game he had ever played — a preseason contest against the Buffalo Sabres in State College on Sept. 16, 2019 — Marino got smashed at center ice in the first period.

He tried to skate through the neutral zone on an end-to-end rush he presumably had tried countless times with ease only a handful of months earlier at the NCAA level.

But Sabres defenseman Colin Miller had other ideas and slammed him to the ice with a hip check.

Roughly 30 minutes of game time later, Marino showed that abrupt “greeting” to the NHL game would not deter him and he went deep into the Sabres’ zone on the right wing and set up a goal for forward Sam Lafferty in the crease.

From that moment on, Marino let it be known he was not afraid to create offensively, even after that rough check from Miller.

That brashness was on full display on Monday as he set up each of the Penguins’ goals by using his skating ability to venture far into the offensive zone in the pursuit of offense.

“If you have the open ice, obviously, you’ve got to take it,” Marino said via video conference. “That’s just kind of how the game went and how those plays happened.”

To this point of the season, things probably haven’t happened quite to the level that Marino would have hoped. Through 32 games, he has seven points (two goals, five assists).

In contrast, during his first 32 games as a rookie in 2019-20, he had more than double that figure with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists).

Points aren’t everything but there were legitimate hopes Marino would take a step forward in terms of offense this season after such a solid rookie campaign.

Regardless, he remains a critical piece to how this team’s defense contributes to the overall offensive game.

“It’s so critical that our defensemen are active as far as far as helping us generating offense, both off the rush, through our transition game,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes, it’s just creating offense off of our defense. … But the defensemen getting involved in the offensive attack in all different aspects of our game is essential.”

What happened

A power-play goal by Penguins forward Anthony Angello 4:24 into regulation put the Penguins up 1-0. Skating the puck from in his own left circle, through the neutral zone and across the offensive blue line, Marino navigated his way behind the Islanders’ net and dished a tight pass to the crease. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov partially blocked the puck with his stick but Angello crashed in and tapped a backhander past Varlamov’s right leg for his second goal of the season. Marino and defenseman Mike Matheson netted assists.

It became a 2-0 game at 18:28 of the second period when Penguins forward Jared McCann collected his eighth goal during a four-on-four sequence. Identifying a sloppy line change by the Islanders, Marino glided into the offensive zone on the right wing and from the right circle, he chipped a pass to the slot for McCann who jabbed a re-direction inside Varlamov’s blocker. Marino and Matheson had assists once again.

The Islanders got on the scoreboard at 9:22 of the second period with a power-play goal. Pushing play up deep on the right wing of the offensive zone, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal chucked the puck to the crease. Islanders forward Matt Martin established position just to the right of the blue paint on Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and re-directed the puck under DeSmith’s blocker for his sixth goal. Barzal and defenseman Nick Leddy collected assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Islanders controlled shots, 25-22.

• McCann and Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues each led the game with four shots.

• Defensemen Andy Greene, Adam Pelech and forward Oliver Wahlstrom each led the Islanders with three shots.

• Dumoulin led the game with 24:46 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Leddy led the Islanders with 23:35 of ice time on 25 shifts.

• The Penguins controlled faceoffs, 35-27 (56%).

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was 15 for 26 (58%).

• Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau was 11 for 17 (65%).

• Dumoulin led the game with three blocked shots.

• Greene and Pageau each led the Islanders with two blocked shots.

• Jarry actually recorded the win after making only five saves on five shots.

• DeSmith made 19 saves on 20 shots.

• Varlamov made 20 saves on 22 shots.

Randomly speaking

• DeSmith stepped into a pretty difficult spot and played pretty well. His finest moment came at 5:59 of the third period when he denied Islanders forward Jordan Eberle on a backhander from the left circle then forward Casey Cizikas on the ensuing rebound.

There have been legit questions about DeSmith’s credentials as an NHL goaltender throughout his entire tenure with the Penguins. And he’s answered them all. If Jarry is out for any substantial period of time, DeSmith will have another question to answer.

• After Jarry was pulled, reserve goaltender Emil Larmi, currently assigned to the taxi squad, actually opened the second period in full equipment on the bench but eventually retreated to the dressing room. While he was available to step in should something happen to DeSmith, he was not technically part of the NHL roster and could not sit on the bench.

• Getting a power-play goal from Angello was really on-brand for how this team has been playing as of late. That’s to say they’re getting contributions from all corners of the lineup.

As for the goal, it was nothing pretty. But it was the kind of goal Angello has to score to stay in the NHL. He’s a big, gangly mid-sized SUV of a power forward who needs to make a living near the blue paint.

• Letang had a bit of a rough game in the respect that he took two penalties that wiped out power-play chances for his team. He’ll have better days.

• Penguins forward Jason Zucker returned to the lineup after missing 18 games due to a suspected left leg injury. He looked pretty good, all things considered. His skating ability was very evident to the naked eye. He logged 13:04 of ice time on 19 shifts and had one shot on one attempt.

• Martin’s goal snapped a streak of 15 successful penalty-kill opportunities for the Penguins stretching over the previous five games.

Historically speaking

• Jarry became the third goaltender in franchise history to record a win in a start while playing a period or less.

His predecessors are:

Gilles Meloche — He made eight saves on eight shots in 10:11 of ice time during a 6-0 road win against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 23, 1987.

Meloche was given a game misconduct after he jumped on top of Canucks forward David Bruce after Bruce began to pummel Penguins defenseman Jim Johnson in a fight.

Goaltender Roberto Romano replaced Meloche and made 22 saves as the goaltenders earned a shared shutout.

Ken Wregget — He made 10 saves on 11 shots during a 5-2 home win against the Ottawa Senators. Wregget left the game after the first period due to a hamstring injury. Goaltender Patrick Lalime took over, making 15 saves on 16 shots as the Senators had a then four-game winning streak snapped.

• Angello’s goal was the first power-play score of his career.

Publicly speaking

• Sullivan is high on how his team is playing:

“It was a great team effort. The last two games were just a great team effort throughout our lineup. It’s fun to coach these guys and watch these guys play the game the way they’re playing it right now. Everybody is making contributions. Everybody is excited to play for one another. There’s a certain simplicity to our game right now that makes us harder to play against. Different guys are stepping up at key times to make big plays or to make important plays. Sometimes they’re big and sometimes they’re subtle but they add up to winning. … It’s just fun to watch these guys compete hard for one another. You can sense the enthusiasm on the bench, you can sense the enthusiasm in the locker room. It’s a pretty neat feeling to have a team competing as hard as we’re competing and trying to play the game the right way.”

• DeSmith on how his team dispatched the Islanders:

“We give them a little bit of their own medicine. We keep it simple, we play really hard, play that grinder-type game. I thought we did a really good job of capitalizing on our scoring chances early. Then we’ve gotten so good lately at defending leads. That’s the biggest improvement as far as this team is concerned lately. We’re really good at holding onto leads, chipping pucks in, getting pucks out, blocking shots, all the little things.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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