Faulk, Walker score as Blues beat Penguins 5-2
By JOE HARRIS Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nathan Walker didn’t have to wait long for a second chance to snap his scoreless drought.
Justin Faulk and Walker each scored for the first time with the Blues, and St. Louis beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Saturday night.
Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist and Ivan Barbashev and Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight game and have points in their last four. Jordan Binnington made 29 saves and improved to 13-4-4.
“Second period wasn’t great, but I thought the first and third were good and we had everybody contributing tonight which is important for sure,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I’ve said this before: We need everybody to chip in goals and we did that tonight.”
Sam Lafferty and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, who lost their second straight game. Matt Murray, playing for the first time since Nov. 7, made 22 saves.
Walker’s first goal since Oct. 7, 2017 broke a 1-1 tie for St. Louis with 5:59 left in the second period.
Walker swatted a pass by Schwartz that deflected off Dominik Kahun’s stick in mid-air, and the awkward shot short-hopped Murray to make it 2-1.
“It is actually one thing I kind of worked on in the summer was batting pucks out of the air like that, trying to meet it when it hits the ice and I think I got a little bit lucky there as well,” Walker said.
Murray said he was fooled on the trick shot.
“It just bounced off the ice weird and no more than a foot and a half in the air just over my pad,” Murray said.
Walker, playing in just his second game since being called up from the Blues’ AHL affiliate in San Antonio, thought he had scored the night before against Dallas only to have the goal called back for an offsides call made after a review.
“It was a big goal,” Berube said of the one that counted. “I think it made us feel good about ourselves going into the third period.”
Barbashev made it 3-1 with his second goal in as many games, snapping a wrist shot into the upper left corner after taking a feed from Robert Thomas in the high slot at 2:54 of the third period.
MacEachern added to the Blues’ lead when he redirected Jacob De La Rose’s shot from the point at 7:09.
“I thought our guys did a much better job in the third period of digging in and just doing the little things,” Berube said.
Letang’s shot from the point deflected off Alex Pietrangelo into the net to cut the Penguins’ deficit to 4-2 with 6:57 left in the third.
Schwartz scored his seventh of the year late in the third.
Faulk made it 1-0 at the 7:52 mark of the first period with his first goal since April 6. Ryan O’Reilly stripped the puck from Jared McCann and fed it to Faulk, whose wrist shot went off Murray’s right pad and into the net.
“Obviously it took awhile,” said Faulk, who snapped a 27-game stretch without a goal. “I don’t think it’s the longest one of my career. None of them feel great, but it’s nice to get that first one in.”
Lafferty tied the game 1-1 at the 6:27 mark of the second period. Lafferty used his speed to get past Derrick Pouliot, creating a breakaway that was capped by a backhand-forehand move to beat a sprawling Binnington.
Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin left the game early in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
“It happened in the first shift of the game, which makes it tough because now you’re going with five defensemen all night,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought they fought hard. I thought we made some fatigue mistakes in the third period that maybe we wouldn’t have made if we have a guy like (Dumoulin).”
NOTES
It was the first of two meetings in four days between the Penguins and Blues. St. Louis travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday for their final regular season meeting. … Both teams were playing their second game in as many nights. … Pittsburgh LW Jake Guentzel had his seven-game point streak snapped. … St. Louis LW David Perron and C Brayden Schenn each extended their point streaks to seven games with assists on Schwartz’s goal.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: Hosts St. Louis on Wednesday.
St. Louis: At Chicago on Monday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Penguins pull away in third to beat Devils 4-1
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jake Guentzel tried to corral the puck, but it wasn’t quite cooperating. So as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward raced in on New Jersey goalie Mackenzie Blackwood in the middle of the second period on Friday night, Guentzel kept his stick on the ice and hoped for the best.
“It’s just kind of a cluster there when you lose a puck like that and you’re on a breakaway,” Guentzel said. “Just tried to get him to cheat over and it worked.”
As tends to happen when Guentzel is in close, particularly at home.
Guentzel managed find enough control to deke from his forehand to his backhand and back again, getting Blackwood to bite in the process. Guentzel tapped the puck into the open net for his team-leading 11th goal of the season — and seventh at PPG Paints Arena — to give the Penguins all the momentum they would need in a 4-1 victory.
“We’re playing well,” Guentzel said. “I think our record might not show some games that we’ve played well in but I think our top to bottom lineup, we’re just playing well and we’re filling spots and guys are stepping up big, so I think it’s been good.”
Guentzel has three goals and three assists during a four-game point streak that started shortly after the Penguins lost captain Sidney Crosby for at least six weeks following surgery to repair a sports hernia. Pittsburgh’s top line has kept rolling anyway as Guentzel, Rust and Evgeni Malkin have combined for eight goals and 12 assists in the five games since Crosby went down.
“I think they kind of feed off each other,” Penguins defenseman John Marino said. “They always kind of know where they are. They’re always in the right position.”
And they’re getting help. Marino and Jared McCann scored 25 seconds apart in the third period to chase Blackwood. Dominik Kahun added his sixth goal in 11 games as the Penguins snapped a four-game winless streak at home against New Jersey. Tristan Jarry trimmed his goals-against average to 1.81 by stopping 36 shots, weathering an early second-period surge from the Devils then coasting after Guentzel’s pretty move.
Taylor Hall scored his third of the season for the Devils. Blackwood made 30 saves before being removed in favor of Louis Domingue early in the third period after giving up goals on back to back shots.
“That one is not on Mackenzie,” New Jersey coach John Hynes said. “I mean, he kept us in the game in the first period. The pull was not regarding Mackenzie or the disappointment in him by any means.”
If the Penguins were drained following consecutive overtime losses to the streaking New York Islanders, it didn’t show. Pittsburgh carried play early and Kahun gave the Penguins the lead 7:51 into the first when linemate Dominik Simon created a turnover along the boards in the New Jersey zone and slipped the puck to Kahun. Kahun worked his way past Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller and flipped the puck past Blackwood’s stick to put Pittsburgh in front.
Hall evened it 31 seconds into the second with a power-play goal, the third Pittsburgh surrendered in two games following a franchise record-tying stretch in which the Penguins went 10 games without giving up a goal while a man down. New Jersey kept pressing, ripping off 12 shots at Jarry in the opening eight minutes of the second. Jarry, however, stood his ground.
The Penguins have been only so-so finishing off opponents this season, coming in 6-2-1 when leading after two periods, including a late collapse against the Islanders on Tuesday that ended with New York extending its point streak to 15 games. There would be no letdown this time against a New Jersey attack that’s struggling to score goals.
Pittsburgh’s Alex Galchenyuk forced a turnover on the forecheck early in the third and the puck came to McCann in the slot. McCann beat Blackwood high to make it 3-1. The buzz in the arena hadn’t died down when Marino pushed the lead to three goals on a slapshot from above the right circle that made its way through a sea of bodies and into the net to chase Blackwood.
“We have some surges, but there’s still some inconsistencies to our game,” Devils center Travis Zajac said. “Just need more out of guys like me, out of other guys, if we want to turn this thing around.”
NOTES: The Devils, ranked 29th in the league in scoring, have scored two or fewer goals in 12 of 21 games. … New Jersey scratched D Matt Tennyson and C John Hayden. … The Penguins D Juuso Riikola and C Joseph Blandisi in addition to Schultz. … Pittsburgh improved to 3-2 on the second night of back-to-backs. … Pittsburgh F Patric Hornqvist skated 13:16 in his second game back after missing nearly three weeks with a lower-body injury. Hornqvist was also dropped during a second-period fight with New Jersey’s Damon Severson.
UP NEXT
Devils: Welcome Detroit on Saturday night. New Jersey has dropped four straight to the Red Wings.
Penguins: Host Calgary on Monday. The teams split their two meetings last season.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Nelson’s OT goal lifts streaking Islanders over Penguins 5-4
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz insists his team isn’t keeping track of its torrid start, even as the weeks pass and the victories pile up.
Probably time to start.
Brock Nelson’s second goal of the game 2:55 into overtime capped another frantic comeback to lift the Islanders to a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night to extend their points streak to 15 games, tied for the longest in franchise history.
“Our team would have no clue if we won 10 in a row or five in a row,” Trotz said. “We would just know we haven’t lost in a while. That’s really been our mentality.”
One that seems to suit New York just fine. Ahead. Behind. It doesn’t matter. The Islanders are playing with a tenacity that’s kept them unbeaten in regulation since Oct. 11. The only blemish over the last five-plus weeks came on Nov. 7 against Pittsburgh, when the Penguins scrambled back from three goals down to stun New York in overtime.
The Islanders returned the favor when goals by Josh Bailey and Ryan Pulock in the final 4:29 of regulation forced overtime. Nelson won it when he fired a shot at Matt Murray that trickled to the goaltender’s right. Nelson tapped the rebound into the open net for his sixth goal of the season.
“It’s fun when you’re winning games,” Nelson said. “So right now, we’re showing up, working hard and believing in each other. Off that, you can build confidence in a game.”
Anthony Beauvillier added his seventh for the Islanders, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots as New York equaled a points streak achieved three other times, the last by the 1981-82 club that put together a 15-0-0 stretch on its way to a third straight Stanley Cup. The Islanders will look to make history when they host the Penguins on Thursday on the back end of a home-and-home.
It’s an attempt that looked in serious jeopardy trailing by two goals with less than five minutes to play. Yet just as they did on Saturday night in Philadelphia — when they erased a three-goal third period deficit to survive in a shootout — the Islanders simply would not go away.
Bailey’s goal got New York back within one. Pulock tied it when he drilled a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 1:32 remaining after the Islanders pulled Varlamov for an extra skater. Nelson’s tap helped New York become the first team ever to win consecutive games in which they trailed by multiple goals with less than seven minutes left in regulation.
“Lots of character, lots of leadership in this room,” Beauvillier said. “We don’t want to keep going down every game. Obviously, we want to play with the lead, but one of those games where those points are going to count at the end of the year.”
Brandon Tanev scored twice for Pittsburgh. Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins. Murray finished with 37 saves but Pittsburgh lost for the third time in nine tries this season when leading after two periods.
“It’s same game like we played in Brooklyn,” said Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, who had two assists. “They lead 3-0 and we won in OT. It’s same game exactly. We have to understand we can’t do mistakes like the last 10 minutes, and 6 on 5. It’s hard to say, but we played a good game I think except the last 10 minutes.”
The Penguins created traffic around Varlamov all night, and Guentzel made it 4-2 early in the third period when he sprinted down the middle of the New York zone, collected a lead pass from Alex Galchenyuk and flicked the puck by Varlamov’s right pad. New York’s first regulation loss since the second week of the season seemed imminent.
It wasn’t.
Rust took a tripping penalty with 6:23 to go and Bailey took advantage of Pittsburgh’s exhausted penalty killers, beating Murray just after the penalty expired to give the Islanders a jolt that carried them the rest of the way.
“It’s a tough time of a game to take a penalty,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The third goal was the killer.”
NOTES: Nelson left briefly in the first period to be evaluated after taking a slap shot off the helmet. The puck hit Nelson’s helmet with such force a portion of it shattered. … Penguins C Nick Bjugstad missed his second straight game due to a lower-body injury that coach Mike Sullivan said will keep him out “longer-term.” … Pittsburgh handed out bobbleheads as tribute to general manager Jim Rutherford, who was inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. … The Islanders scratched D Noah Dobson and F Ross Johnston. … Pittsburgh scratched D Chad Ruhwedel and D Kris Letang, who hasn’t played since Nov. 4 with a lower-body injury. … The Islanders went 0 for 3 on the power play. The Penguins have killed 23 straight penalties. … Pittsburgh went 2 for 4 with the man advantage.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Kakko scores 2, lifts Rangers past Penguins 3-2 in OT
By VIN A. CHERWOO AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Kaapo Kakko likes the way his game is improving.
The 18-year-old Finnish rookie scored his second goal of the night 2:36 into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
“It’s getting better,” Kakko said. “I guess it’s always good when you score a couple of goals.”
Adam Fox had a goal in regulation and set up Kakko’s winner as New York recovered after blowing a two-goal lead and improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Alexandar Georgiev finished with 30 saves.
Kakko also scored in regulation and had a shootout goal in the Rangers’ 6-5 loss to Florida on Sunday. New York coach David Quinn has noticed a difference in Kakko as he’s gained some confidence.
“Just talking to him, the way he walks around now, there’s just a whole new level of swagger to him,” Quinn said of the second overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. “There’s a comfort level that I think he’s attaining and you can see it in his face. There’s a lot more smiling and a lot more swagger.”
In the extra period, Fox brought the puck up the left side, skated toward the middle and sent a pass to the left doorstep, where Kakko redirected the puck past Penguins goalie Matt Murray for his sixth of the season.
“First couple of minutes were so hard for us, then we had the puck and a great pass by Foxy,” Kakko said. “That was easy for me. … It’s always so fun scoring in overtime, I think everybody likes it. A good game.”
Justin Schultz and Jared McCann scored for the short-handed Penguins, who earned at least a point for the sixth time in seven games (4-1-2). Murray, making his seventh straight start and 15th in 18 games this season, stopped 24 shots.
The Penguins were without star center Sidney Crosby due to a lower body injury, as well as defenseman Kris Letang and forward Patric Hornqvist.
With the score tied 2-all, both teams had chances in the third, with Georgiev and Murray making great stops on both ends. The Rangers went on their second power play with 4:10 left but managed just one shot on goal as Pittsburgh killed off its 16th straight penalty and 22nd in the last 23.
In the closing seconds, Brian Dumoulin had a shot blocked by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba and his follow was stopped by Georgiev to send the game to overtime.
The Penguins trailed 2-0 after getting outshot 11-8 in the first period. It marked the 12th time in 17 games Pittsburgh gave up the first goal of the game.
“We weren’t ready to play, they were ready to play and they outplayed us in the first period,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting back, but it’s hard to play if you’re in a two-goal deficit. It’s hard to climb out of it. … For me the lesson learned is we’ve got to play a full 60 (minutes).”
Schultz got Pittsburgh on the scoreboard at 1:13 on the team’s second shot of the period. He took a pass from Evgeni Malkin, skated through the left circle and fired the puck past Georgiev for his second.
The Penguins tied it with 7:27 left in the second as Dominik Simon mishit the puck off his own skate and got it to McCann, who fired it past Georgiev for his sixth. That ended Pittsburgh’s 11-game drought without a power-play goal, and snapped an 0-for-28 skid with the man advantage.
Pittsburgh, which has been outscored 11-9 in the first period, has 28 goals in the second — one behind Washington for most in the middle period.
The Rangers grabbed the lead in the first when a streaking Kakko took a pass from Brendan Lemieux, went forehand to backhand and put the puck past Murray from the right side at 6:42.
New York had a 9-1 advantage in shots over the first 7 1/2 minutes, but had only one more shot on goal until Fox got a cross-ice pass from Artemi Panarin and beat Murray top shelf from the right circle for his third with 9.3 seconds left.
NOTES: Pittsburgh came back from a multiple-goal deficit for the fourth straight game, but is 2-1-1 in that stretch. … Malkin has points in four straight games (one goal, five assists) since returning from an 11-game absence due to injury. … McCann extended his point streak to four games, with two goals and four assists in that stretch. … As part of Veterans Night, the Rangers wore customized jerseys and had camouflage tape on their sticks during warmups. The jerseys and sticks will be auctioned off to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. … Fox extended his point streak to five games, with two goals and six assists. … Panarin extended his point streak to nine games, tying a career high. He has nine assists and 13 points in that stretch.
UP NEXT
Penguins: At New Jersey on Friday night before playing five of the next six at home.
Rangers: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night to open a two-game trip to Florida.
___
Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP
___
More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

Penguins rally, edge Blackhawks 3-2 in shootout
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Penguins keep losing high-profile players and keep winning games. It’s not ideal, but they’ll take it — for now at least.
Jake Guentzel and Jared McCann scored in a shootout and the Penguins ended a 10-game losing streak against the Chicago Blackhawks by rallying for a 3-2 victory Saturday night despite captain Sidney Crosby leaving in the third period with a lower-body injury.
The Penguins were already playing without Kris Letang and Patric Hornqvist when Crosby gingerly made his way off the ice early in the third and did not return. Pittsburgh still improved to 4-1-1 in its last six despite spotting Chicago a two-goal lead.
Guentzel’s eighth of the season late in the second period gave the Penguins life and Bryan Rust’s fifth in six games since his return from injured reserve tied it midway through the third period. Guentzel and McCann both beat Corey Crawford in the shootout, and when Matt Murray turned away Alex DeBrincat, the Penguins had their first victory over Chicago since March 30, 2014.
“Shows a lot of character in this room, but we’re not making it easy on ourselves,” Rust said. “We do seem to have a pretty good leadership group in here and we do kind of know when to push a little bit harder.”
Patrick Kane collected his sixth goal of the season for Chicago and used some nifty stickhandling to slip the puck by Murray in the shootout. Dominik Kubalik added his fourth for Chicago. Crawford made 29 saves but couldn’t stop Guentzel’s flip between the goaltender’s legs or McCann’s wrist shot in the shootout.
“Would’ve been nice to come away with that game, but they’re a good team,” Kane said. “They’ve been playing well all year. They had a big comeback against the Islanders the other night. Obviously, nice to get a point. Hopefully keep building on what we have going on here, but it would’ve been nice to have two.”
Two days after storming back from three goals down in the third period to stun the Islanders in overtime, the Penguins followed a similar script to top the Blackhawks for the first time in more than five years.
Chicago squandered a chance to take the lead early in the second period when it failed to convert on an extended 5-on-3 power play. Kane had an excellent opportunity for the right circle but his one-timer missed everything, sailing over the goal, over the boards and into the netting.
Crawford turned aside Pittsburgh’s surge after the teams returned to full strength, and Kubalik gave the Blackhawks the lead 7:09 into the second when Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin whiffed while trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone. The mistake led to a three-on-one the other way, with Kubalik taking a feed from Brandon Saad and slamming it past Murray for his fourth of the season.
Kane doubled Chicago’s advantage just 98 seconds later, pouncing on the puck after teammate Calvin De Haan blocked a shot then racing the other way before beating Murray with a wrist shot at 9:47 to extend his scoring streak to a season-high five games.
Just as they did against the Islanders, Pittsburgh scrambled back. Guentzel drew the Penguins within 2-1 with 3:56 left in the second, though Malkin did much of the dirty work, swiping the puck near center ice, zipping down the left side and beating Slater Koekkoek to the post. Malkin then slipped a pass between Koekkoek and Crawford to a wide-open Guentzel racing down the slot. Guentzel easily put the puck into the open net for his eighth of the season.
Rust tied it when he finished off an extended Penguins’ push by camping below the left dot and delivering when a pass from John Marino found his stick.
“The biggest thing for me that Rusty has shown since Day 1 of training camp is a sense of urgency,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “When he plays that way, he’s at his best. I think he’s done that consistently day in and day out.”
NOTES: Penguins C Evgeni Malkin had two assists for the Penguins. … Letang is dealing with a lower-body injury Sullivan described as “week to week.” … The Penguins scratched Letang, D Chad Ruhwedel and C Sam Lafferty. … Chicago scratched D Adam Boqvist and C Kirby Dach. … Chicago D Olli Maatta, who won a pair of Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, played 18:09. … The Blackhawks went 0 for 2 on the power play. … The Penguins were 0 for 3 with the man advantage and haven’t scored on the power play in 11 straight games. … Pittsburgh’s has killed off 14 consecutive penalties and 20 of their last 21 overall. … Pittsburgh improved to 7-2-1 against the Western Conference.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Host Toronto on Sunday.
Penguins: Visit Metropolitan Division rivals the New York Rangers for the first time this season on Tuesday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pens rally to win 4-3 in OT, ending Isles’ 10-game streak
By SCOTT CHARLES Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — After two terrific periods, the New York Islanders abandoned their strong fundamental play in the third.
And in a flash, their 10-game winning streak was over.
Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the game in overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied past the Islanders 4-3 on Thursday night in Brooklyn.
Pittsburgh erased a three-goal deficit in the third period and snapped its three-game skid. Jared McCann had a goal and two assists, and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray made 20 saves.
“These are definitely character-building wins,” Rust said. “For us as a team, that just kind of breeds confidence throughout the lineup.”
Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck and Adam Pelech scored for New York. Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots.
Rust, who extended his point streak to five games, took the puck from Islanders center Brock Nelson behind the net and scored on a wraparound 3:25 into the extra session.
“Rusty is playing with a hunger and you can see it in his game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “His speed is so evident, and he is hard to play against because he can track pucks down, strip defenseman from behind and that’s what he brings to this team. He has the ability to score. He is finishing for us, but his second effort for us is impressive.”
McCann ended Varlamov’s shutout bid when his wrist shot got by the goalie 1:38 into the third to spark the Penguins’ comeback. Pittsburgh defensemen John Marino and Brian Dumoulin helped set up the play.
Rust and Malkin followed up McCann’s goal with scores of their own as the Penguins wiped out their three-goal deficit in 7:10.
McCann, Malkin and Rust combined for seven points.
“It was obviously a good line for us,” Sullivan said. “They were dynamic in the third period. There is a lot of speed on the wings there. I thought we got to the net in the third period better than the first two.”
Rust snapped a wrist shot over Varlamov’s glove after Murray made a sprawling save on Anthony Beauvillier’s backhand at the other end. McCann and Malkin assisted on the goal.
“That save he made, that changes the outcome of the game,” Sullivan said. “That’s the timely save we need to win games.”
Malkin tied it 3-all at 8:48 when he swatted home a long rebound. It was his second goal of the season in five games. Juuso Riikola and McCann assisted.
“We just have to be better. That’s not the way we have been playing,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “We all know that — that’s what is frustrating. . Bad period, bad lapse. It cost us a point in the end against a really good team.”
Cizikas opened the scoring when he sneaked a backhand past Murray just 19 seconds into the game. Michael Dal Colle deflected the puck behind the net, and Cizikas beat a confused Murray to the far post. Dal Colle and Ryan Pulock got assists.
Clutterbuck scored short-handed for the second straight game at 6:28 of the second period when his wrist shot whizzed between Murray’s pads to give New York a 2-0 advantage. The Islanders have killed off 24 of 25 penalties over the past eight games.
Pelech stepped into a slap shot at 9:26 of the second to make it 3-0. The original shot was deflected by Penguins forward Teddy Blueger while Lee provided a screen at the top of the crease. Lee and Mathew Barzal assisted.
“Don’t give teams a lead like three, two goals. It’s not fun,” Malkin said. “Coach starts changing lines, Coach starts changing the power play — it’s not our game. I hope next game we will play better for the first half of the game.”
NOTES: Pittsburgh played without defenseman Kris Letang, who sustained a lower-body injury in the third period of a 6-4 loss at Boston on Monday. … Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy missed his third straight game while nursing a lower-body injury and is day-to-day. … Lee has played in 215 consecutive games. . New York recalled Seth Helgeson and Otto Koivula from Bridgeport of the AHL, but neither dressed. . Dominik Simon’s four-game point streak against the Islanders ended. . The Penguins scratched forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
Penguins: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports