ELMONT, N.Y. -- The last time the Penguins were in this building back in December, it was one of their worst losses of the season, a crushing 5-1 defeat in which they were totally dominated by the Islanders from the start of the game until the end.
I asked Bryan Rust after practice on Thursday what needed to change this time around in order to have a better result, and his answer was simple -- "Everything. We need to be better from the drop of the puck, we need to be better in pretty much every facet from the last time we were there."
The Penguins appeared to be on their way to do just that here at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. on Friday night. They were the dominant team through the first 40 minutes. But it was their own mistakes that gave the Islanders the momentum they needed to storm back and hand the Penguins a 5-4 regulation loss.
The Penguins didn't seem to take much solace in the fact that they were the better team and controlled play for the majority of these 60 minutes. There was a steady stream of four-letter expletives and the sound of sticks smashing as players left the ice after the final buzzer. The frustration was clearly felt in the locker room afterward, with some players continuing to sit in their stalls in full gear, staring off at nothing while they processed what unfolded.
This was a game that the Penguins could have -- no, should have -- won. But they didn't even get a point.
The first costly mistake was a series of mistakes that culminated in something so bizarre that it just had to be the subject of its own Freeze Frame breakdown. From Marcus Pettersson's turnover to the puck getting lost on top of Casey DeSmith's pants, it wasn't pretty.
Brock Nelson had the Islanders' next goal that at the time cut the Penguins' lead to 3-2. The only move he had to make as he swung around the back of the Penguins' net was a wraparound, and DeSmith gave it to him:
The Penguins were holding onto a 4-2 lead in the final minute of the second period when Lee's redirect tally cut the lead in half. While there wasn't one player or mistake to really fault on that one, those late-period goals have proved costly on a number of occasions this season.
A bad tripping penalty on P.O Joseph put the Islanders on the power play, and they quickly capitalized. Jeff Carter has taken a good share of criticism this season, and it's usually deserved. He's struggled. This was different, though. Carter is the Penguins' best center in the faceoff dot, averaging close to a 59% success rate this season, nearly six percentage points more than any other Penguins center. But on this draw, he lost it cleanly. It was uncharacteristic for him, and it was again something that proved costly:
Zach Parise's goal with 2:43 remaining stood to be the game-winner, completing a total, disappointing collapse by the visitors.
The Penguins were outshooting the Islanders by an insane 30-9 margin at one point. They had more shot attempts, shots on goal, and actual scoring chances in all three periods, even as the Islanders pushed hard in the third.
"I thought we played a good game," Pettersson told me. "Mistakes cost us. It's a tough one to swallow, because I feel like we played well enough to win today. I think our mindset was there tonight. We played a really good game, especially early on. We gave them momentum with mistakes and they got goals off of it."
The coach agreed.
"I thought for the majority of the night, our team was terrific," Mike Sullivan said. "I thought we had a really good first period, we had a really strong second period. They got a couple of opportunistic goals in the second period and it gave them life. I thought we had tons of energy, I thought we were playing with the right intentions out there. It was unfortunate we couldn't hold the lead or gain the lead, because we had a fair amount of scoring chances, in the first two periods, for sure. The third period was back and forth. But I thought a couple of goals they got in the second period gave them life."
These games against divisional opponents are four-point games, and that's even more true this time of year when the standings are tight. The Islanders' win gave them 63 points on the season, overtaking the Capitals and Panthers and tying the Penguins for the first wild card spot, though the Penguins do have four games in hand.
The Penguins don't have time to dwell -- theres a quick turnaround. They play the Devils -- who currently sit No. 2 in the division with 75 points -- in less than 24 hours.
"Obviously, results are important, especially this time of year," Sullivan said. "We want to get results. I'm disappointed that we didn't get it, because I thought we played well enough to. But that's hockey, right? We've got to regroup. We've got an important one tomorrow night. We've got to get ready for it."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• DeSmith finished with 23 saves on 28 shots. I asked Sullivan what he thought of DeSmith's game.
"I thought he made some saves. Especially in the third period, he made a couple of big saves for us to keep it at a tie," he said before taking a long pause. "I don't know what else to tell you."
• Sidney Crosby opened the scoring at the 12-minute mark with some great awareness. Joseph took a shot from the point and Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin thought he had it covered but lost track of it. Crosby drove to the net and knocked the loose puck in from the crease:
• Rickard Rakell netted his 20th goal of the season with the goal that put the Penguins ahead in the second period. Guentzel set up Rakell, who redirected the pass past Sorokin from the slot:
• Jason Zucker quickly made it 3-1 with a redirect of Joseph's shot:
• Rakell's second goal of the game restored the two-goal lead, capitalizing off a backhand pass from Crosby:
• Outstanding game by the Drew O'Connor-Teddy Blueger-Josh Archibald line, even though it won't show up on a box score. When they were on the ice the Penguins led 18-5 in shot attempts, 14-2 in unblocked shot attempts, 3-1 in high-danger attempts, and 8-2 in shots on goal. That's despite not being on the ice for a single offensive zone faceoff, but three defensive zone draws. They didn't get (or allow) any goals, but they sure helped keep the momentum trending in the Penguins' direction while it did.
• Man, was Bryan Rust snakebitten in this one. He finished with 11 shot attempts, 7 high-danger shot attempts, 7 shots on goal. He had an absurd iXG (individual expected goals) of 1.81. No other Penguins player had an iXG over .69. He just couldn't buy a goal.
• Brock McGinn left early in the first period and returned late in the same period. A shot from the point got deflected and appeared to bounce up into McGinn's neck/throat area. He was down on the ice in some pain for some moment pulling at the neckline of his jersey. He sat on the bench briefly before going down to the locker room with athletic trainer Chris Stewart.
• Tonight marked Zucker's 600th NHL game -- 456 with the Wild, and 144 with the Penguins. He has 36 goals and 42 assists since being traded to the Penguins in the 2019-20 season.
• Guentzel's second-period assist on Rakell's goal brought him to 50 points on the season, the third Penguin to reach that plateau this season. It's Guentzel's fourth 50-point season of his career. Only four members of the 2013 draft class have more 50-point seasons: Nathan MacKinnon (9), Aleksander Barkov (7), Sean Monahan (5) and Bo Horvat (5).
• Tristan Jarry made the trip to New York and skated in the morning but was unavailable for the game. Sullivan said that Jarry is "getting much closer to the return to play. He’s not quite there yet, but he’s getting a lot closer. We’re certainly encouraged.”
When asked if Jarry might be ready for Saturday's 5:38 p.m. game against the Devils at PPG Paints Arena, Sullivan said "I don't know that I can answer that right now. We're trying to take each day as it comes. We see how he responds, and we make decisions accordingly."
• The press box ice cream machine that was non-functional every other time the Penguins have played in this building since it opened was finally working tonight. During first intermission they put out the usual unreal brownies and cookies, I put those in a bowl and put soft serve on top. The soft pretzels here are also way better than the ones we get at home. A rare A+.

TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at UBS Arena:
1. Brock Nelson, Islanders C
2. Anders Lee, Islanders LW
3. Zach Parise, Islanders LW
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jan Rutta suffered an upper-body injury on Jan. 14 and has resumed skating with the team in a full capacity. He traveled to New York and skated in the morning but did not play.
• Goaltender Tristan Jarry last played on Jan. 22 and remains sidelined with an upper-body injury, though he has resumed practicing with the team. He traveled to New York and skated in the morning but did not play. Sullivan didn't rule him out for Saturday's game.
• Forward Ryan Poehling has missed the last two games with the same nagging upper-body injury that he's been dealing with off and on since December. He didn't make the trip and remains day-to-day.
• Defenseman Mark Friedman suffered an undisclosed injury on Feb. 11 and did not make the trip to New York.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Drew O'Connor - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
And for Lane Lambert's Islanders:
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Zach Parise - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Josh Bailey - Cazey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Andy Andreoff - Hudson Fasching
Alexander Romanov - Scott Mayfield
Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho - Noah Dobson
THE SCHEDULE
Quick turnaround after this one. The Penguins will head back home for Saturday's 5:38 p.m. game against the Devils at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
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