UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Sidney Crosby thinks the game at a level few others reach
He did not, however, have to tap into his exceptional powers of analysis to figure out what the Penguins will need in Game 5 if they are to regain the upper hand in their first-round playoff series against the Islanders.
Heck, Crosby didn't even need a dozen words.
"More of what we did in Game 3 than Game 4," he said.
Makes sense.
The Penguins did a lot of things well during their 5-4 victory in Game 3; they didn't do much of anything -- at least that would be worth replicating -- during a 4-1 loss in Game 4 Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.
And the few things they did do consistently well, like taking penalties and directing pucks past their own goaltender, are not likely to hold prominent places in Mike Sullivan's game plan for Game 5. Not if the Penguins expect to have a realistic chance to win a playoff round for the first time since 2018, anyway.
This series is tied, 2-2, with Game 5 scheduled for Monday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
It will return to Long Island for Game 6 Wednesday, when one team will have a chance to clinch a berth in Round 2. If Game 7 is necessary, it will be at PPG Paints Arena Friday.
Precedent suggests that a victory Saturday would have all but assured the Penguins of reaching the second round. They have had a 3-1 advantage in a series 13 times during the Crosby-Evgeni Malkin era, and advanced on all but two occasions.
(The first was against Tampa Bay in 2011, when neither Crosby nor Malkin played because of injuries. The second was against the Rangers three years later.)
Whether the Penguins were aware of those numbers isn't clear, but if they did know about them, those stats didn't seem to provide much motivation.
After a fairly even, largely uneventful first period, the Islanders' desperation to even the series was far more evident than the Penguins' drive to push them to the cusp of elimination.
"With the position they were in, you knew they were going to fight," Crosby said. "We have to have that same mentality."
Among other things.
Like increased offensive production from some of their top-nine forwards. A return to the two-way excellence with which Kris Letang performed in the first three games of the series. Better decisions about what to do with the puck when moving through the neutral zone.
And discipline.
Lots and lots of discipline.
You know, that intangible that was so often missing while the Penguins were being assessed six minor penalties, compared to two for New York, in Game 4.
The Islanders scored their third and fourth goals while the Penguins were down a man in the third period, eliminating whatever slim chance the Penguins had of wiping out the two-goal lead New York had taken during the second period.
"We obviously took too many minors," Brian Dumoulin said.
Malkin, playing his second game since returning from a knee injury, was assessed the first three of them.
He picked up the first for a scuffle with Cal Clutterbuck, the second for high-sticking Kyle Palmieri and the third for tripping Oliver Wahlstrom.
"I understand that I'll be more disciplined next game," Malkin said.
That will be particularly important when the teams are engaged in verbal jousting, a regular feature of post-whistle scrums.
Trying to goad the Penguins, particularly Malkin and Letang, into taking penalties --or, at least, losing their focus -- seems to be part of New York's tactical arsenal, and it's worked pretty well.
"After whistles, we need to stay together, but not talk too much to them," Malkin said. "We understand they trash-talk all the time against us, against Sid. It's one game tonight. But we'll be better next game."
Coincidentally enough, Zach Aston-Reese got the Penguins' only goal while they were killing a penalty, as he nudged a Dumoulin rebound over the goal line at 17:25 of the third period, when Jake Guentzel was serving a cross-checking minor.
The goal had no impact on the outcome -- the Islanders were leading, 4-0, at the time -- and was noteworthy only in that it spoiled Ilya Sorokin's shutout bid and made Aston-Reese the first Islanders opponent to score a shorthanded goal this season.
Sorokin, a rookie who replaced veteran Semyon Varlamov, played well, stopping 29 of 30 shots, but he was allowed to see just about every puck that came toward his net and benefited from the Penguins' failure to generate sustained pressure for most of the game.
"We didn't get pucks deep as often (as in Game 3)," Sullivan said. "And when you don't, it's hard to establish the zone time and the territory that I think puts our team at its advantage. The execution coming through the neutral zone, the decisions with the puck coming through the neutral zone on whether or not to try to make a play or whether you have to simplify and put pucks below the goal line and create your offense different ways (are critical)."
Their absence for so much of Game 4 proved that.
New York went in front to stay at 8:07 of the second when Letang, who might have been the Penguins' best player through Games 1-3, knocked New York forward Anthony Beauvillier into Tristan Jarry as Josh Bailey was about to wrist a shot from inside the left dot.
At 14:51, New York defenseman Ryan Pulock scored the game-winner when his shot from the top of the left circle was going far wide of the net ... until it hit Cody Ceci's skate and skidded between Jarry's legs.
Teddy Blueger inadvertently tapped a Wahlstrom rebound past Jarry at 5:15 of the third, and Jordan Eberle piled on by beating Jarry from the right hash at 6:28.
And so a series that had yielded a string of one-goal games had its first blowout and the Penguins, while no doubt being pleased to return home with at least one victory on Long Island, had first-hand knowledge of how badly things can go for them when they stray from the formula that has served them so well, and so often.
"We've got to do a better job with our execution through the neutral zone," Sullivan said. "We need more offensive-zone time. We have to get more pucks through (to the net). ... There's no better way to break down a defense than shots on goal, putting pucks on the net."
That's not easy against a team with defensive structure and mindset of the Islanders, but the Penguins realized that long before the opening faceoff in Game 1.
"We knew it was going to be a tough series going into this," Sullivan said. "This isn't anything that we didn't expect. We just have to make sure that we react the right way."
Which is not the way they did Saturday.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins were crushed on faceoffs, winning just 17 of 50. No Penguin had a winning record on draws, and no Islander had a losing one.
• The last time the Penguins were tied, 2-2, in a series was the second round against Washington in 2018. The Capitals won Games 5 and 6.
• For all the talk of New York's physicality, the Penguins actually were credited with 34 hits, three more than the Islanders.
• The Penguins' prominent players aren't the only ones who haven't produced to expectations through the first four games. Islanders center Mathew Barzal, probably his team's most dynamic offensive talent, has just three assists and repeatedly slid the puck to a teammate rather than take a potentially dangerous shot during Game 4.
• Letang appeared in his 140th career playoff game, tying Jaromir Jagr for third place on the Penguins' all-time list.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• NHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Nassau Coliseum:
1. Ilya Sorokin, Islanders
2. Ryan Pulock, Islanders
3. Josh Bailey, Islanders
THE INJURY
• Goalie Casey DeSmith is "day-to-day" because of an unspecified lower-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Kasperi Kapanen
Jared McCann-Jeff Carter-Frederick Gaudreau
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for Barry Trotz's Islanders:
Leo Komarov-Mathew Barzal-Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier-Brock Nelson-Josh Bailey
Kyle Palmieri-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Nick Leddy-Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene-Noah Dobson
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins have called off the practice scheduled for Sunday. They will face New York in Game 5 Monday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
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