The Islanders-Penguins battles in Game 3 were just 'playoff hockey'

There were some in the Pittsburgh area that didn’t exactly appreciate the wild, all-out battle that ended up with all 10 skaters on the ice going to the penalty box early in the third period of Thursday’s Game 3 between the Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins at Nassau Coliseum.

But Penguins coach Mike Sullivan didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

"I think it was just playoff hockey,’’ Sullivan said in his postgame press conference, when asked if he thought the Islanders were playing dirty. "Emotions run high when you’re in a seven-game series, and it’s just playoff hockey.’’

It was the type of hockey the fans in Nassau Coliseum hadn’t seen in two years, probably since the last time the Islanders and Penguins met in the postseason in 2019. Ultimately, the Penguins survived Thursday, and won, 5-4, to take a 2-1 series lead. But the Islanders, down 3-1 to start the third period, rallied and nearly pulled off a comeback, and their physical play in the period had much to do with it.

First, Cal Clutterbuck’s goal that made it 3-2 at 3:46 of the third came about after the Isles won a battle for a puck in the corner. Matt Martin and Pittsburgh defenseman John Marino were battling for the puck when Martin drove a forearm into Marino’s shoulder and Marino’s helmet came off. By rule, Marino was required to skate off to the bench or be given a penalty for playing without a helmet. So he left, Martin won the puck, and the Isles had a man advantage for a few seconds and cashed in when Casey Cizikas got the rebound of Scott Mayfield’s shot and slid it over to a wide-open Clutterbuck, who swept it into the open net.

The real fun started two shifts later.

Jarry dropped to his knees to stop a shot by Jean-Gabriel Pageau at 5:35, and Kyle Palmieri crashed the net and tried to jam in the loose puck. Oliver Wahlstrom drove to the crease as well, and Jarry got pushed back into the net. The whistle blew to stop play.

There was the usual pushing and shoving and bad language after that. Mayfield dumped Sidney Crosby to the ice off to the side, and Crosby’s linemate Bryan Rust came over to pull Mayfield off Crosby. Everything seemed to calm down at that point.

But then Wahlstrom and Jarry were jawing at each other, and Wahlstrom, held up by a linesman, tried to get at Jarry. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was holding on to Wahlstrom from behind, and Pageau was holding on to Letang. Wahlstrom lost his balance and fell, and that started everything up again. Pageau pulled Letang away, Rust pulled Pageau, and Palmieri horse-collared Rust away from the pile. Then Crosby yanked at Palmieri, Mayfield attacked Rust, Brian Dumoulin jumped on Mayfield, and those two would exchange a couple of punches.

Nick Leddy, who had been holding at the blue line, joined the pile and grabbed Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel. Palmieri turned around and went at Crosby, Rust came over to double-team him. Again, everything seemed to settle down, and people started going to the penalty box.

Then, for some reason, Guentzel skated over to Palmieri, as he was being escorted to the box by a linesman, and whacked him with his stick, which started everything up all over again.

The fans roared the entire time.

"It felt like playoff hockey,’’ Mayfield said. "That's part of it, those scrums, physical games. And it's good to see. That's, I think that's what fans want. They want an intense game and I think we gave them that.’’

Everyone on the ice except the goalies was given a minor penalty, and Guentzel got an additional minor for his slash on Palmieri. That gave the Islanders a power play, which produced Anthony Beauvillier’s goal that tied it, 3-3, at 5:54.

Shortly thereafter, Clutterbuck was called for goalie interference at 6:23 – a call Islanders coach Barry Trotz called "light’’ – and the Pens scored on the power play to retake the lead, 4-3. Clutterbuck tied it again with his second goal, before Brandon Tanev’s goal with 3:36 remaining won it for Pittsburgh.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.