PITTSBURGH — Tristan Jarry lost his net twice in the third period. Evgeni Malkin lost his mind.
The penguins are very lost.
In a night that marked Jarry’s return to the lineup, a dominant performance by the Penguins over two periods and a rather memorable display of punches, the biggest news was another loss. The Penguins are now out of the playoff picture after losing 4-2 to the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.
Are the penguins unsettled by the current situation?
“No,” said Bryan Rust. “This team has seen a lot.”
That much is true, but this team has never seen anything like it. The last time the Penguins were out of the playoffs this late in the season was in 2006, when Sidney Crosby was an 18-year-old rookie, Malkin was still in Russia and Jarry was 10.
You’ve never felt so vulnerable in the Crosby era. This 2007 playoff series seems in grave danger of being canceled. This team is not very good; It invents ways to lose and its general manager hasn’t taken a single step to improve the squad.
Times are pretty bleak for these penguins.
Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker scored in the first two periods to give the Penguins the lead. The Penguins would have led a lot more had it not been for a truly brilliant performance from Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin made one of the best saves of the NHL season against Kris Letang in the second half.
The Penguins, who have been an issue all season, failed to defend a third-third lead. While they’re usually guilty of poor defending habits – oh, that showed up again – this was their goalkeeper.
Jarry, who was struggling with an injury that kept him out of the lineup for all but three games in 2023, made his great return against the Islanders. And not a minute too soon. Casey DeSmith has largely fought behind Jarry, who is clearly the Penguins’ best hope.
He was perfectly fine in two periods. Then he allowed Bo Horvat an absolutely terrible goal from short touch.
Less than two minutes later, with a palpable sense of tension in the building, Jarry delivered another bad goal, this time against Anders Lee.
And that was it.
There’s no denying that the penguins outplayed the islanders in this game. However, this season they now have a clear 0-3-0 against the Islanders.
When the penguins are upset, they don’t show it in the dressing room. They’ve always been confident when meeting with the media throughout the season, no matter how gruesome some of their losses.
Malkin, who beat most of the islanders on the ice during a savage confrontation in the second phase, spoke on behalf of the team as he often does in the darkest of times.
“We should play the same whether we lead by two goals or one goal,” he said. “Do not wait. try to win. Keep moving, play the same game, try the forecheck. We’ve been feeling under pressure the last few games, you know? We need points. … We’re starting to wait too long and they’re starting to change momentum.”
Malkin, who fired six of the Penguins’ 47 shots, suggested the Penguins were yet to make the postseason.
“We’ll wake up with a little rest tomorrow,” Malkin said. “We have a few days of rest before the next game. We know that every game is important. Jarry is back. Just stay focused. Stay positive. To support one another. It’s not over. We have to win a lot. I think we will be fine.”
The Penguins have 26 games left to find out.
“If we play (the) same thing, we’ll fight for every inch, we try to play hard, we’ll win,” Malkin said. “We have a great team here. I believe (in) everyone. If we play the same way, we’ll be in the playoffs for sure.”
10 post-game observations
• The Islanders went very directly behind Crosby and Malkin in back-to-back shifts in the second half while trailing 2-1. The plan worked.
It was quite a hand-to-hand fight. As usual, Malkin and Letang were very active. sugar too.
The problem for the penguins is that the islanders had Matt Martin and Ross Johnston on the ice. They’re not great at playing hockey, but you wouldn’t want to run into them down a dark alley. Or on an ice hockey rink.
The penguins actually did quite well. When Johnston, a giant of man and a legitimate contender, took on Malkin, Zucker stepped in. Good for him. The penguins need to do more of this.
Mike Sullivan wasn’t upset about anything the penguins did during the altercation.
“It was hockey,” he said.
To be honest it was the strongest fight I’ve seen from the Penguins all season. I kinda liked it.
Of course, it didn’t help the penguins. Zucker was accused of a 10-minute misconduct. Letang, Malkin, Guentzel and Marcus Pettersson – also known as four of the Penguins’ best players – were all sent to the penalty box. The Islanders, meanwhile, had to play without players like Martin and Johnston. Advantage, New York.
• The whole scene could easily have been avoided.
A shift earlier, the islanders went after Crosby. In fact, Sebastian Aho literally attacked Crosby in the corner. Brian Burke, the team’s hockey president, was furious in the press box when nothing was called. Instead, referee Peter MacDougall apparently thought that Aho, who dragged Crosby onto the ice when the puck was 50 feet away, somehow resembled a hockey game and deemed play to go on.
If the right decision is made, the penguins go into the power play and this scene never happens.
• The good news is that Jarry was able to play and declared himself fit after the game.
Still, he let the penguins down in this game. If that sounds harsh, too bad. Desperate for points, the Penguins have overtaken the Islanders by a sizable margin. Those last two New York goals – especially Horvat’s – just have to be stopped. It can not be said otherwise.
I have no doubt that Jarry was rusty, but that rust needs to go fast. The penguins need him urgently.
• The Penguins’ first power play session looked as disjointed as I’ve seen all season.
Notable was their inability to even establish the power game in the islanders’ territory. Nothing they did worked. This top unit looks pretty lost at the moment.
• The penguins still make embarrassing mistakes all the time.
Less than 30 seconds after Zucker gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead, the Penguins had their fourth row on the ice. And promptly allowed Zach Parise to walk in on Jarry alone. The keeper stopped the breakaway and that would have been a game-changing moment if the Penguins had won. Instead, it’s just another mistake from a team that can’t stop making them.
How do you allow a breakaway less than 30 seconds after a goal? And how does your fourth line ever allow that? light up.
• Brock Nelson equalized in the second period thanks to some typical Penguins play.
Pettersson was caught taking a bad pinch. Not ideal. But at least Drew O’Connor was there to cover for him. By then, O’Connor stumbled and gave the islanders a two-for-one.
These mistakes keep happening. The penguins don’t change. That’s them.
• Brock McGinn is now 23 games without a point.
This is really, really hard to do. I realize his linemates – Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen – aren’t exactly top-flight at the moment, but this is quite a blip really.
To make matters worse, McGinn took two bad penalties in that game. Is Danton Heinen worse than him? I don’t really care that McGinn is a better penalty killer at this point. You have to play against your best players. I don’t think Heinen is anything special, but he has to be more effective than this.
Incidentally, Letang and Guentzel also took penalties in the third period.
• It was a terrible loss.
The Islanders aren’t doing very well, having played without injured standouts Mat Barzal and Josh Bailey. While Sorokin was brilliant, the other islanders were utterly unassuming. And yet they won. You just can’t let that happen. The Penguins passed them, 47-32.
• I love Malkin’s fight. You can’t say he doesn’t care.
• What now?
Connor McDavid is coming to town on Thursday. How do you think this will go? Then the Penguins play four of their next five away, including two games with Tampa Bay.
The bottom six were horrendous again. If Ron Hextall doesn’t make a move to help this team, the Penguins are toast and won’t make the playoffs. Even with an addition or two, where are they going?
The penguins are in very big trouble.
(Photo of Islanders celebrating Anders Lee’s goal (hidden). Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry kneels in foreground: Charles LeClaire/USA Today)