UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The first three games of this series were compelling theater, with flared tempers, momentum swings and drama until the final buzzer.
Game 4 was anything but that, with the Penguins delivering a dud Saturday.
The New York Islanders were the better squad from start to finish as they tied the first-round playoff series at two games apiece with their 4-1 win over the Penguins at Nassau Coliseum. They again silenced Sidney Crosby’s line, got to Tristan Jarry and frustrated Pittsburgh’s stars with their relentless physicality.
Crosby said “the urgency and just the battle level” the Penguins displayed throughout Thursday night’s thrilling 5-4 win in Game 3 was missing Saturday afternoon, as was the attention to detail that is essential this time of year.
Game 5 of the first-round playoff series is Monday back at PPG Paints Arena.
“With the position they were in, you knew they were going to fight,” he said. “I just think we have to have that same mentality. We can’t kind of wait and see and have that type of approach. We’ve got to go in there and dictate the pace.”
It would help if the Penguins got more from their top line. The Islanders, led by the defensive duo of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, have put on the clamps.
Crosby was a force in the first half of Game 1 and got on the scoresheet with that impressive one-handed deflection. He hasn’t tallied a point since then.
Jake Guentzel is taking a beating. It seems like every other shift he is slowly pulling himself up off the ice as the action heads the other way. He has had chances against the Islanders but has yet to score a goal. He has only one measly assist.
Bryan Rust has had a hard time fighting his way to the net, too. His lone goal in the series was the long-range shot Semyon Varlamov whiffed on in Game 2.
The Penguins were able to secure a split on Long Island because their other three forward lines all chipped in with at least one goal during Thursday’s win.
But the secondary scoring wasn’t there for them in Game 4. Evgeni Malkin spent more time in the penalty box than he did in the offensive zone. Jeff Carter, who had a dozen goals in his first 17 games with the Penguins, had a quiet game. And in the loss they had just one power play, which they quickly squandered.
Mike Sullivan’s squad only had eight shots from the slot, per Sportlogiq.
“It’s just going to take hard work and stick-to-itiveness. We’ve just got to stay with it,” the coach said. “I don’t think we were quite as sharp tonight. We didn’t have as many looks as we had in the first few games. We’re going to have to work for those moving forward. But these guys are good offensive players.”
Early in the second period, with the game still scoreless, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin sprawled across his crease to stuff Crosby, who shot out of the corner. Moments later, the Islanders grabbed the lead with a goal from Josh Bailey.
Prior to his shot, Kris Letang pushed Anthony Beauvillier into Jarry, who got jostled out of position. Jarry pleaded for the goal to get waved off, but no luck.
The last two games, the Islanders invaded his territory, bumping him or buzzing through his crease any chance they got. The big bodies crowding him appear to be making him uncomfortable. He’s jabbed back in retaliation a few times.
“We knew their game plan,” Brian Dumoulin said. “They go low to high and put pucks on net. We [need to] box them out early and try to stop the traffic from getting there. … We have to fight for the net front just as much as they do.”
Pulock pushed the lead to 2-0 with 5:09 left in the second period. Jarry kicked out a juicy rebound with his right pad. Pulock stepped up from the blue line and into a blast. His shot caromed off the skate of Cody Ceci and behind Jarry.
The Penguins, looking to get back within a goal, went to the power play early in the third. But it got wiped out by a Jason Zucker penalty. Moments later, after Letang joined him in the box, the Islanders scored on a 4-on-3 power play. It was an own goal by Teddy Blueger, who accidentally tapped the puck into his net.
“It hurts,” Sullivan said of those penalties, the costliest of the six they took. “We get [21] seconds of power play time to seven-plus minutes [for New York]. That’s a big discrepancy. We can’t take the amount of penalties that we took.”
Jordan Eberle, left alone in front, scored 24 seconds later to make it 4-0.
The rowdy crowd at Nassau Coliseum serenaded the visiting goalie with a loud “Jarry! Jarry! Jarry!” chant led by the New York Jets offensive line, who were in the crowd in Islanders gear along with their new franchise quarterback, Zach Wilson.
Saturday’s loss was the third time in the series Jarry gave up four goals.
The lone Penguins goal came late in the third period, when Zach Aston-Reese scored short-handed. It was the winger’s first career postseason goal.
That was one of just a few bright spots for the Penguins in their listless loss.
“We generated a couple of chances. And then one shift they get one and they follow it up with another one and then we start chasing the game a little bit,” Crosby said. “I think it was probably closer than the score but I don’t think it really matters at this point. They played better and deserved to win tonight.”
The loss ensured that the Penguins will return to Long Island for a Game 6. If they don’t rediscover their urgency Monday, it will be an elimination game.
“We’re not happy. Not just me. The whole team is not happy with what we did tonight,” Malkin said. “We need to forget this game. Best of three right now.”
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: May 22, 2021, 9:47 p.m.
Updated: May 23, 2021, 10:36 p.m.