3 Takeaways: Isles Fall Behind Early, Lose to Penguins 6-3

The New York Islanders first trip to Pittsburgh since last year's playoffs didn't go as planned, as the Isles fell 6-3 to the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.
Zdeno Chara scored for his first goal of the season, while Zach Parise and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders who found themselves down 2-0 early and couldn't find a way to overcome an offensive night for the Penguins, despite a late push. Jake Guentzel led the way with a four-point game (2G, 2A) and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, as the Penguins clinched a playoff berth for the 16th straight season. Kris Letang, Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn also scored for the Penguins.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 22 of 26 in the loss, while Tristan Jarry stopped 36 of 39 in the win, snapping a personal five-game losing streak.

ISLES FALL BEHIND EARLY VS OFFENSIVE PENS:

The Islanders were expecting a motivated Penguins team on Thursday night, both seeking retribution for the Isles 5-4 shootout win on Tuesday and a playoff berth for a 16th-straight season.
Pittsburgh came out quickly, outshooting the Isles 9-3 in the early going while opening up a 2-0 lead. Letang beat Sorokin with a wrister through a screen at 4:59 to open the scoring, while Heinen made it 2-0 at 8:52, stepping out of the box and into a breakaway before beating Sorokin five-hole. The Isles power play, which went 0-for-5 on the night, had trouble generating clean zone entries and offensive zone time prior to the Heinen goal.
PENGUINS 6, ISLANDERS 3
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Postgame: Lee and Chara
KINGER'S CALLS
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Lee Scores 26th
Chara's First of the Season
"First period we were soft we were too easy to play against," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "We gave up odd man rushes we got beat off the walls, we were just playing shinny and you can't do that. We were only down a pocket and we had a power play. We didn't we didn't get anything on the power play."
The Islanders came out with some jump in the second period, outshooting the Penguins 19-5 in the middle frame. Parise's third goal in two games cut the deficit in half, but on a night where the Penguins were able to generate 12 high-danger chances at five-on-five, an Isles mistake wound up in the back of their net.
Ross Johnston couldn't corral a Noah Dobson pass at the offensive blueline, turning into a two-on-one rush for Guentzel and Crosby that turned into Guentzel's third goal in the two-game set. A turnover and a line change led to a two-on-none rush for Crosby and Guentzel, with Crosby potting his 29th of the season on the play.
"They're great rush team," Lee said. "Too many odd man rushes against tonight and against the skilled team like that you can see the way they can finish their opportunities. Just too many of those tonight and that gave us a hole that we had to get out of."
Down 4-1, the teams combined for four goals in the final 2:37 of the third period. Lee scored his 26th goal of the season, knocking in a rebound off a Brock Nelson wraparound try. That was negated by McGinn's empty-net goal at 17:59. Just under a minute later, Chara scored his first goal of the season to make it 5-3, before Guentzel rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter at 19:50.

CHARA SCORES FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON:

Zdeno Chara scored his first goal of the season on Thursday night.
The 45-year-old defenseman walked down the half wall and beat Jarry with a half slapper at 18:52 of the third period. While Chara would have preferred it to come in a win, rather than late in a losing effort, it was still a special moment for team and player.
"It's always nice to score a goal in the NHL," Chara said. "Way too many opportunities where I kind of hit a crossbar or post this season. To finally get one, too bad it wasn't earlier or a better time in the game. Hopefully the next one is going to help us win a hockey game."
Head Coach Barry Trotz said earlier this season he'd consider sending the whole bench over the boards when Chara scored, but while that didn't happen on Thursday, he was happy for the veteran blueliner.
"Unfortunately it was late in the game, but it's good. He's hit a couple of posts and you know he's had some good looks and I'm glad he got one. He's gonna get through this year with another goal and add to the Hall of Fame career and so everybody's really happy for him for sure."
Chara's first goal was his first as an Islander since Jan. 12, 2001.

PARISE STAYS HOT:

After scoring a pair of goals against the Penguins on Tuesday, Zach Parise lit the lamp again in Thursday's rematch.
Parise finished off a feed from Mathew Barzal at a sharp angle, just eluding a lunging Tristan Jarry. Barzal set the play up by rushing up the left side of the ice, putting on the breaks, skating into the slot and opting to pass to the suddenly-hot winger.
The goal gives Parise 14 on the season and 32 total points, though 28 of those points have come in the last 51 games.
With an assist, Barzal reached the 50-point mark for the fourth time in the past five years - and fourth time in a season with more than 60 games.
On the opposite wing, Kieffer Bellows drew in for Oliver Wahlstrom on Thursday night, as Bellows returned to the lineup for the first time since March 31. Bellows played 11:31 with six hits, four shot attempts and a blocked shot.
Bellows was part of the rush that led to Parise's goal, though the winger was horse collared by Chad Ruhwedel.
"He was good. I thought the first couple shifts he wasn't nervous but he didn't have his feet moving, but our whole team didn't," Trotz said of Bellows. "After the first couple of shifts, I thought he played. He played a little bit of edge. He got some chances. He had some detail made some plays. I didn't mind his game."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Montreal to complete a back-to-back set against the Canadiens. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.