It's been a month and a half since the Penguins last played the Islanders this season.
As the Penguins prepare for their first-round playoff series with the Islanders, I thought it might be helpful to take a look back and remember each of the eight games from the regular-season series between the two teams.
Which players fared well? What were some of the storylines and highlights of the games? Let's revisit.
GAME 1: FEBRUARY 6, NASSAU COLISEUM
Score: 4-3 Islanders
Headline: Penguins like a lot about their game ... but not the result
Jordan Eberle scored two first-period goals, including the game's opening goal. Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored his first NHL goal to open the scoring for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin scored his second goal of the year in the second period to tie it, and Jake Guentzel gave the Penguins the lead in the third period. Cal Clutterbuck tied the game back up for the Islanders, then Anders Lee scored the game-winner on the power play with just under three minutes remaining. Tristan Jarry made 22 saves on 26 shots in the loss, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 of 31 for the win.
"I thought there were a lot of positives to take from it," Mike Sullivan said after the loss. "I thought, for the most part, our five-on-five play was pretty strong. I thought we got better as the game went on. I thought we controlled a lot of the third period. We fought back from a deficit. There was a lot to like about our overall game."
Here's a look back at Joseph's first NHL tally:
GAME 2: FEBRUARY 11, NASSAU COLISEUM
Score: 4-3 Penguins, shootout
Headline: 'Very resilient' Penguins earn another comeback victory
The Islanders again opened the scoring with a goal from Casey Cizikas. Bryan Rust tied the game later in the period, and a power play goal from Jean-Gabriel Pageau regained the lead for the Islanders. Zach Aston-Reese scored his first goal of the year to tie the game in the second period. Mathew Barzal put the Islanders up by a goal in the third period, then Evgeni Malkin tied the game with 18 seconds to go. After a scoreless three-on-three overtime period, the game went to a shootout. Eberle, Barzal, and Josh Bailey all failed to score on their attempts. Guentzel was stopped on his attempt, then Sidney Crosby scored the lone shootout goal to win it. Varlamov took the loss with 32 saves on 35 shots, and Casey DeSmith earned the win by stopping 26 of 29 and going perfect in the shootout.
"We have a really high-character group in there," Rust said. "It's a very resilient group."
Rust's goal was a redirect of a pass from Guentzel:
GAME 3: FEBRUARY 18, PPG PAINTS ARENA
Score: 4-1 Penguins
Headline: Sullivan: Matheson 'playing a confident game right now'
Crosby scored the only goal of the opening frame, and Teddy Blueger scored late in the second period to extend the lead. Jason Zucker made it 3-0 midway through the third period, then Brock Nelson got the Islanders on the board with a power play goal. An empty-net goal from Rust with 3:06 left sealed the win. Varlamov stopped 33 of 36 shots in the loss, and Jarry stopped 31 of 32 for the win.
"Mike (Matheson) had a real strong game on both sides of the puck," Sullivan said. "You could see his skating ability and how effective it is, both defending -- taking time and space from our opponents and closing on people -- and then offensively, his ability to join the rush."
Crosby's goal was this redirect of a diving shot from Kasperi Kapanen:
GAME 4: FEBRUARY 20, PPG PAINTS ARENA
Score: 3-2 Penguins
Headline: Jarry saves the day -- and a couple of points -- for Penguins
Kris Letang's power play goal in the second period opened the scoring, but Eberle's goal less than three minutes later had the game tied by intermission. Nelson scored in the first minute of the third period to put the Islanders ahead, but Matheson's first of the year evened the score again. Letang's second goal of the game later in the period proved to be the game-winner. The Penguins only put up 18 shots on Varlamov, and he stopped 15 of them. Jarry earned the win with 33 saves on 35 shots.
"Tristan won us that game, hands down," Matheson said. "After the second period, it was 1-1, and we had no reason to be in that game. We didn't play the way we should -- and need to, to stay with a team like the Islanders -- but he kept us in it."
The game was Crosby's 1,000th of his career, and he had two primary assists on Letang's goals. His second setup came from below the goal line:
I asked Crosby earlier this week about the Penguins' success in the regular season against the Islanders, and he pointed to their play in tight games like this one.
"Looking back, they were some pretty close games there," Crosby said. "I think we were patient, some of the games there were pretty tight all the way through. We found a way to get some timely goals. I think it's a team that doesn't give up a lot, so you've got to be patient. When you get your chances, you've got to capitalize."
GAME 5: FEBRUARY 27, NASSAU COLISEUM
Score: 4-3 Penguins, overtime
Headline: Extra work = extra points for Penguins
The Islanders got a power play opportunity late in the first period, and Nelson capitalized for the only goal of the first period. Barzal scored at the 1:34 mark of the middle frame to put the Islanders up 2-0, but Crosby responded less than a minute later with a power play goal. Letang's goal 36 later tied the game back up, but Bailey put the Islanders back up by one goal before the end of the period. Jared McCann's tally 18 seconds into the third period was the third period's only goal and forced overtime. Letang scored the overtime-winner with 26 seconds to go in the extra frame. Varlamov took the loss with 27 saves on 31 shots, and Jarry stopped 24 of 27 in the win.
"They play a 200-foot game that's very, very good," McCann said. "We can't really play like that -- play from behind -- a lot. It's going to bite us."
Letang's overtime winner gave him his second multi-goal game against the Islanders. He was the only Penguin to record more than one multi-goal game against the Islanders this season:
Letang recorded a total of nine points in the eight games against the Islanders this season. I asked him after Friday's practice what the key was to putting up this kind of offense against such a defensive-minded team like the Islanders.
"It just happened to be like that," he said. "I don't think I did anything special. I took whatever they gave me, and for some reason my shots were going in. I was pretty fortunate on a few of them. But a team that is that strong defensively, you have to be able to play a patent game, a one-goal game like we call them, and make sure you don't force for too much offense."
GAME 6: FEBRUARY 28, NASSAU COLISEUM
Score: 2-0 Islanders
Headline: Betrayed again by penalty-kill, power play, Penguins fall, Sullivan seethes
Oliver Wahlstrom scored with 40 seconds left in the first period on a power play, then Pageau got another power play goal in the second period. Ilya Sorokin shut out the Penguins with 20 saves, and DeSmith got the loss with 28 saves on 30 shots.
"We are what we are there," Sullivan said of the Penguins going 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. "We're giving up too many goals there. It's not good enough."
This was the goal Wahlstrom scored on the man advantage:
GAME 7: MARCH 27, PPG PAINTS ARENA
Score: 6-3 Penguins
Headline: A fearless approach to NHL's stingiest team helps Penguins' rise in East
Freddy Gaudreau's first goal as a Penguin opened the scoring, and Evan Rodrigues' first-period goal put the Penguins up by two. Crosby got a power play goal at 4:26 of the second period, and then Rust got a power play goal of his own less than two minutes later. Rust scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-0, then Barzal got the Islanders on the board midway through the period. Third-period goals from Anthony Beauvillier and Eberle made things interesting, but the Islanders were unable to complete the comeback. Rust's empty-net goal in the final minute put the game out of reach and completed his hat trick. Jarry's 29 saves on 32 shots gave him the win. Sorokin started the game for the Islanders but was yanked after allowing four goals on nine shots, and Varlamov stopped 10 of 11 in relief to finish the game.
"That was a really big win for us," Sam Lafferty said after the game. "Obviously, we're chasing them in the standings and they're a really good team. They play the game hard. They defend hard. You don't get many odd-man rushes against them. We know that every game against the Islanders is going to be a battle."
Lafferty had the assist on Gaudreau's goal:
GAME 8: MARCH 29, PPG PAINTS ARENA
Score: 2-1 Penguins
Headline: Penguins have 'utmost confidence' in DeSmith: 'He's always ready'
Anthony Angello scored on the power play and McCann got a late first-period tally to put the Penguins up 2-0 at first intermission. Matt Martin's goal on the power play midway through the second period would be the Islanders' only goal. Jarry started the game and stopped all five shots in the first period, but didn't return for the second period due to an injury suffered in the first. DeSmith stopped 19 of 20 shots faced to finish the game. Varlamov stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Islanders' loss.
"I thought Casey did a tremendous job coming in," Sullivan said of DeSmith's effort in relief. "That's not an easy position to put a goaltender in, and I thought Casey did a terrific job for us."
John Marino set up Angello's opening goal: