Islanders complete season sweep of Penguins with yet another rally taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Anders Lee celebrates his second-period goal against the Penguins Thursday at PPG Paints Arena

The most surprising stat of the night on Thursday was that this was just the first time in the Islanders' 50-year history that they have managed to sweep a regular-season series against the Penguins.

The Islanders have been a thorn in the Penguins' side pretty often in the postseason over the years, from the Penguins blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Islanders in 1975, David Volek's goal eliminating the two-time defending champion Penguins in 1993, a four-game sweep in 2019 and a six-game knockout in the first round just two seasons ago, to name a few.

Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders was the loss that sealed the regular-season series sweep, with the Islanders taking all four decisions this season.

Man, have they all been crushing losses, with the latter three coming in nearly identical fashion.

The first loss was back on Dec. 27 on Long Island and was described by Mike Sullivan as a game that "might've been our worst game of year" at the time. Anders Lee scored an early goal and with the exception of a P.O Joseph tally, it was all downhill from there. The final was 5-1, and things weren't as close as that score might seem.

On Feb. 17 on Long Island the Penguins dominated through the first two periods, but their own mistakes in the third gave the Islanders the win. They blew a two-goal lead and lost 5-4 in regulation.

Three nights later in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin was dead-on describing the game as the "same story." The Penguins had a 2-1 lead heading into the third period and managed to lose 4-2 in regulation, with the Islanders again capitalizing on the Penguins' own mistakes. The Penguins snatched defeat from jaws of victory yet again.

On this night here at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins were the better team through the first 40 minutes despite an early goal from Lee. They held a two-goal lead going into the third period after goals from Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald, and then allowed the Islanders to come back and win.

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In this final matchup between the two teams this regular season, the Penguins at least managed to come away with a single point in the standings. But nobody was taking any solace in that fact, not after watching this familiar script play out once again to this Islanders team.

"It's frustrating," said Rickard Rakell. "We feel like we definitely outplayed them in the games we played against them this year, but we haven't gotten the results we wanted."

Looking at the total season stats from this series, you'd think that the results must have been pretty even through the four games. The Penguins controlled 50.1% of the shot attempts, 53.37% of the unblocked shot attempts, 53,07% of the shots on goal, but were outscored 18-10. It's not hard to point out who the stars were for the Islanders -- Lee and Brock Nelson are good players, but look like perennial scoring title contenders when they play Pittsburgh. Lee finished the series with seven goals and an assist in four games, while Nelson had five goals and four assists in four games, including at least two points in each matchup. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin posted a .932 save percentage against the Penguins, starting in all four games. Tristan Jarry started in three of the four meetings, with Casey DeSmith starting in the third game. They combined for a .862 save percentage against the Islanders.

Neither team was great on the power play in these four games. The Penguins went 1-for-9 on the power play, while the Islanders went 2-for-12.

Sullivan couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was about these games with the Islanders that bring out these crushing losses in the Penguins.

"We're trying to play the game that brought us success," he said. "We're trying to play on our toes, we're trying to play a calculated game. We don't want to give them easy offense, but we're still trying to score. I think that's an important aspect of learning how to play with leads and handle leads, and work to get the next goal. You just got to do it the right way."

That was Sullivan's message between periods to his team, he said.

"I thought even though we didn't dominate the territory in the third period, like we did in the first two, that's not easy to do in today's NHL, with teams that are as good as a team like the Islanders," Sullivan continued. "We knew that they were going to push back. They're a good hockey team. I thought for the most part, we handled it pretty well. We had opportunities to establish more offensive zone time. I think when we took the penalties, it took us out of it a little bit and kind of fed their momentum. We've got to be better. We've got to be better."

The Penguins probably won't see the Islanders again this season. Both teams are in a battle for one of wild card spots in the Eastern Conference -- the Islanders now sit in the first wild card spot with 76 points in 67 games, while the Penguins sit in the second spot with 74 points in 64 games. The Senators, Panthers, Capitals, Sabres and Red Wings are all between four to seven points back of the Penguins. Even if both the Islanders and Penguins hold onto their spots and make the playoffs, the seeding format probably wouldn't see them meet up until the Conference Final.

Figuring out how to solve the Islanders specifically doesn't need to be on the Penguins' agenda. But the Islanders seem to bring out the worst in the Penguins, with early goals, subpar goaltending, a struggling power play, and an inability to close out games. 

The bright side to this series is that the Islanders have provided the Penguins with ample, ample footage for the Penguins' video meetings to pick apart and break down how not to win a game.

It's only fitting that the Penguins cancelled Friday's scheduled practice in favor of off-ice work -- meaning, video. Hopefully for their sake there's enough to take away from this Islanders saga to benefit them moving forward.

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