5 Takeaways: Islanders Suffer Game 2 Loss as Pens Tie Series

The New York Islanders dropped a 2-1 result to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Game 2 of their First Round playoff series. With the loss, the series is now tied 1-1 between the fourth-seeded Islanders and the top-seeded Penguins.
The Islanders weren't able to complete the comeback after digging themselves into an early 2-0 hole, as Pittsburgh received first-period goals from Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter. Josh Bailey scored the Islanders sole goal of the game with assists from Brock Nelson and Scott Mayfield, while Semyon Varlamov made 43 saves on 45 shots in his first appearance in the series.
"They were throwing a lot of pucks to the net. The first goal, we'd like to have back, but I thought we stabilized after the first 10 minutes," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "After the first period, the chances were fairly even, probably a little more on their side. In the second period, we did a really good job on the penalty kill. I thought we got a little bit of momentum from that. I thought our second period was pretty strong for the most part. The third period, we needed more of a push and we didn't get enough of a push which was disappointing."
Here are five takeaways from the Islanders' Game 2 loss:

ISLANDERS UNABLE TO OVERCOME FIRST-PERIOD DEFICIT

With a boost of more than 9,000 fans in attendance in the building, as Pittsburgh upped crowd capacity to 50%, the raucous energy translated onto the ice. The Pens came out flying and jumped out to a 2-0 lead and put up 19 shots - to the Islanders' 13 - after the first 20 minutes of play, creating a lead the Islanders were never able to overcome the deficit.
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"When you go down, you're trying to score to catch up," Mayfield said. "At the same time the biggest thing we worry about is getting to our game and I think that's what we did. That's how we know we're going to have success. That's our focus, getting to our game, whether we're down one or two, whatever it may be, even if we're up we play our game. That's what we focused on and I thought we did pretty well after the first."
From the get go, the "Let's Go Pens' chants radiated throughout the building and Pittsburgh put the pressure on. After allowing the first goal in Game 1, the Pens flipped the script as Rust put the team on the board at 3:22. The winger collected an Islanders turnover in the neutral zone, took his time and space, and wired a wrist shot over Varlamov's glove.
The Penguins push continued as they outshot the Islanders 15-8 through the first 13 minutes. Carter capitalized on the Pens' momentum as the group took advantage of another defensive slip from the Islanders. Kasperi Kapanen crunched Adam Pelech against the boards down low to pop out a puck to Jared McCann below the hash marks. McCann played Carter in the high slot, who deked and sent his shot through Varlamov's pads to pad Pittsburgh's lead 2-0 at 13:07.
While the Islanders countered with some decent looks in tight on an Anthony Beauvillier and Nelson 2-on-1 rush and a back-to-back attempt from Casey Cizikas, Tristan Jarry closed the door. The Pens netminder was solid in the first period of his redemption game.
The Islanders cut their deficit down 2-1 in the second period, courtesy of Bailey, and put up a 15-10 shot advantage. After receiving two huge penalty kills - in the span of four minutes both on Oliver Wahlstrom penalties - and one four-on-four (Wahlstrom and Kris Letang for roughing), the Islanders got on the board at 14:44.
After collecting a pass from Nelson, Bailey curled into the high slot from the half wall, shimmied past Carter and roofed his backhand shot over Jarry's left elbow.

The heated tensions between teams didn't cease, as a yard-sale scrum broke out following a Brandon Tanev diving scoring chance that took Varlamov out from his stance in the final five minutes. Matt Martin and Zach Aston-Reese served roughing penalties while the Islanders and Pens played four-on-four.
With a one-goal lead and knowing the Islanders would come out with a desperate effort, the Penguins locked it down in the third period. It was a strong effort from the Black and Gold who outshout the Islanders 16-10 and showcased some dominant shifts, especially from the Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Rust line. Pittsburgh was 25-1-1 when leading after two periods in the regular season, so it was an uphill climb for the Islanders.
The Islanders received a promising opportunity to send the game to overtime as Rust took a penalty for closing his hand on the puck with 1:28 left in the game. The Islanders pulled Varlamov in exchange for the extra attacker for a 6-on-4, but the Penguins survived the power play with a frenzied effort.

VARLAMOV RETURNS IN NET

Video: NYI@PIT, Gm2: Varlamov swallows Ceci's shot in tight
After missing Game 1 - out of precaution - on Sunday and the last period of the Islanders' regular-season finale against Boston on May 10, Varlamov return back between the pipes for the Islanders.
Rust's goal was an uncharacteristic miss on Varlamov's behalf, but the Islanders netminder responded with a strong performance, making a season-high 43 saves.
"I thought he was excellent after the first goal," Trotz said. "I thought there were moments they could have made it a 3-1 game and he came up with some key saves, so I thought he was excellent after the first goal. We'll look at it, but I thought he was moving well, he was crisp and all that. It's just the first goal he'd like to have back."
The Russian veteran held off some pushes from the Pens, who play a quick transition game and work their opponents' zone with low-to-high cycles.
Down a goal and facing a Pittsburgh push off the opening faceoff, Varlamov denied a Crosby chance from distance, a subsequent Rust attempt in close and was saved later on by his post.

PESKY PENALTY KILL

The Islanders penalty kill continued to provide the team with pivotal performances to disrupt any Pittsburgh momentum.
The second period in particular featured a strong effort from the unit who went on nearly back-to-back kills and two four-on-fours. Both of the penalties and one of the four-on-fours were taken by the Islanders rookie winger Wahlstrom, who was skating in his second-career playoff game.
With a 2-for-2 execution on the PK in Game 2, the Islanders are a perfect 5-for-5 on the man down against Pittsburgh in this series.

PHYSICALITY PICKS UP

While the Islanders still held the edge in hits in Game 2 with 46-37, the Penguins put forth a spirit and much harder physical effort than Game 1 where the Islanders had outhit them 72-47.
Along with the physicality, there were no shortages of exchanges between the two clubs. Scrums broke out throughout the game following whistles or plays blown dead and resulted in two sets of roughing penalties administered to each team.

JARRY BOUNCES BACK, MALKIN MISSES SECOND-STRAIGHT

After giving up four goals - all on his glove side - in Game 1, Jarry redeemed himself in net for the Pens. The 26-year-old made some acrobatic stops throughout the game and put forth a much confident effort to warrant "Jarr-y" chants from the enthused stands.
Evgeni Malkin missed his second-straight game with an undisclosed injury for Pittsburgh. The veteran center was confirmed as a game-time decision ahead of the game per Pens Head Coach Mike Sullivan.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders have the opportunity to regain the series lead as they return home to Nassau Coliseum where they will host Pittsburgh for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 between the clubs is at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
"We just move forward, it can be a bit of a chess match switching little things here and there," Bailey said after the game. "We got one, we would have liked two, but we move forward and get ready for a big game on Thursday on our ice."