CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It's not that losing the opener in their first-round playoff series didn't sting the Penguins.
It did. A lot. Always does. Especially when it happens at home. And in overtime.
But the nature of the Stanley Cup playoffs, when series generally play out on an every-other-day basis, is that teams don't have the luxury of dwelling on the outcome of a game, regardless of whether it resulted in delight or despair. So when the Penguins convened at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex for a 25-minute practice at midday Monday, little more than 20 hours after their 4-3 defeat by the Islanders in Game 1, their focus was squarely on Game 2, which will be played Tuesday at 7:38 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
The on-ice portion of the workout was upbeat and, according to Kasperi Kapanen, so was the off-ice mindset among his teammates.
"Coming into the locker room today, it was fine," he said. "The mood's great. It hasn't changed one bit."
Maintaining a positive outlook figures to be particularly important for Tristan Jarry, who gave up a few goals of dubious quality Sunday.
"I think Tristan is in a good spot, from a mindset standpoint," Mike Sullivan said.
Although Jarry made some timely stops, such as when he denied New York forward Anthony Beauvillier from between the hash marks during overtime after a grievous turnover by Mike Matheson, he also allowed at least a couple of goals on shots he normally would be expected to save.
There is a hockey adage which holds that it's not the shots that a goalie stops that matter most, but the ones that make it into the net.
That would seem to apply to Jarry's performance Sunday and, if he can't elevate his game, the Penguins could be in real danger of being in a two-game hole when the series shifts to Nassau Coliseum for Game 3 Thursday.
Sullivan made it clear he doesn't expect Jarry's play to be a problem in Game 2.
"We're confident Tristan will respond and be at his best," he said. "Tristan has played a lot of real good hockey for us, in particular in the second half of this season. He's been a big reason we were able to win the division. We believe he'll respond the right way."
Although goaltending is the most critical variable in almost every playoff game, a factor that could work in the Penguins' favor Tuesday is a larger crowd at PPG Paints Arena, where up to 50 percent of the seats can now be filled.
"We have such a great fan base," Brandon Tanev said. "It's electrifying in there and, obviously, with more fans in attendance at the games, it's going to bring a boost ... it's going to bring an energy to our group."
What the crowd can't do is to shield the Penguins from New York's physical play; the Islanders were credited with 72 hits in the opener, including 14 by Leo Komarov.
Those are impressive numbers, but nothing that surprised the Penguins.
"They're a big, physical team and we're ready for that," Kapanen said. "We're ready for them to be heavy, to dump pucks in and get on our (defensemen). That's something we can handle."
They've certainly had enough experience trying, after eight meetings during the regular season and the opener in this best-of-seven series.
Fact is, nothing either team does in this round likely will catch the other off-guard.
"I don't know that there are any secrets," Sullivan said. "I think the Islanders are well aware of the identity of the Pittsburgh Penguins and I think we're well aware of their identity, as well, and how we need to play to have success."
And how to react if they're able to do that.
