Islanders come up with important penalty kills vs. Penguins
The Islanders' Mathew Barzal, center, heads back to the bench after scoring against the Penguins during the second period of an NHL game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Gene Puskar
PITTSBURGH — The Penguins’ power play is ranked 30th in the 32-team NHL. But that does not diminish the importance of the Islanders’ improved penalty kill work in Tuesday night’s 5-4 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena.
The Islanders went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, limiting the Penguins to five shots.
“We got some good kills tonight, for sure,” said defenseman Adam Pelech, who logged 3:23 of shorthanded time, just behind partner Ryan Pulock (3:48) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3:27). “I think it’s just commitment. The penalty kill has been a weakness of ours this year and I think we have the group and the goaltending to have a great penalty kill. That’s going to be super important for us going forward.”
The Islanders’ penalty kill, ranked last in the league, was an abysmal 13 of 24 (54.1%) in their previous eight games.
“We just needed to be better on our triggers,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I thought today we were very good at it. We didn’t get caught three guys in the battle.”
No Cizikas update
Key penalty killer Casey Cizikas exited the game 21 seconds into the third period after being hit on the hand by the puck. It ended his rough game as he had also retreated to the dressing room toward the end of the first period after his face was bloodied in a collision with teammate Simon Holmstrom.
“No update,” Roy said. “He’s a warrior for us and losing him in that period was tough.”
Isles files
Roy said goalie Semyon Varlamov would start Thursday night in St. Louis . . . Goalie Ilya Sorokin earned his second assist of the season on Mathew Barzal’s second-period goal . . . Center Brock Nelson took a game-high eight shots . . . Jaromir Jagr, who had his No. 68 retired by the Penguins on Sunday, watched the Islanders’ morning skate while chatting with president/general manager Lou Lamoriello.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
