Crosby, Malkin combine for 5 points, Penguins top Islanders

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby combined for five points, and Justin Brazeau broke a tie late in the third period, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins spoil Matthew Schaefer’s NHL debut with a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Malkin set up the go-ahead goal with a pass through the neutral zone and off the boards to Brazeau, who went forehand to backhand around Ilya Sorokin for a 4-3 lead at 14:21 and his third goal in two games.

"It's been a bit of a whirlwind,” said Brazeau, who scored twice in Pittsburgh’s season-opening 3-0 win at the New York Rangers on Tuesday. “Obviously, anytime you get to play with players like Malkin and those guys, you try to take the best opportunity and make the most of it. So, I think I've just been trying to make sure I'm feeding off them and helping them out as much as I can."

Crosby and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist, Harrison Brunicke scored his first NHL goal and Malkin had three assists for the Penguins (2-0-0). Tristan Jarry made 34 saves.

Schaefer (18 years, 34 days), the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, had an assist to become the youngest defenseman in League history to have a point in his debut, previously held by Scott Niedermayer (18 years, 46 days on Oct. 16, 1991).

Maxim Shabanov scored in his NHL debut, and Sorokin made 24 saves for the Islanders in their season opener.

“It was such a great experience playing the first NHL game,” Schaefer said. “I thought we brought it tonight, but we wish we could have got the win. Hate losing, so we’re going to learn from it and focus on our next game. But I thought it was a great first game for us. We just wish we got the win.”

Rakell put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on a power play at 3:23 of the first period, tipping in Malkin's backhand from the slot.

“It’s always nice when the team wins two games,” said Malkin, who has five assists in the first two games. “Not a pretty game tonight. I think we can play better, but we love to win.”

Jonathan Drouin tied it 1-1 at 12:02 on a knuckling wrist shot from the high slot set up by Schaefer.

“Thought [Schaefer] was really good,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “He was good at the end. He was throwing pucks at the net. I thought he seemed very, very comfortable and very confident out there.”

Kyle Palmieri put New York up 2-1 at 4:04 of the second period on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

“I thought we played fast, played on our toes,” Palmieri said. “I think we can do a little better job being more aggressive in our defensive zone, but (there were) good things and, overall, there were a lot of positives.”

Brunicke tied it 2-2 at 5:41, taking a backhand pass from Filip Hallander to the slot for a snap shot. It was the first NHL point each for Brunicke and Hallander.

“What a game. What a game to be part of,” Brunicke said. “We battled right to the wire. Yeah, feeling a lot of emotion again. It’s pretty cool to see that first one go in. But I’m just thinking about an overall team win. It’s great. And we’re 2-0 right now. Keep it rolling.”

Crosby gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead on a power play at 8:58, holding off Ryan Pulock in the crease while on one knee to tap in a pass from Malkin.

Shabanov scored on a one-timer from the right circle, tying it 3-3 at 19:19.

NOTES: Schaefer is the ninth Islanders defenseman to have a point in his NHL debut and first since Noah Dobson had an assist on Oct. 8, 2019. ... Crosby’s assist was his 1,063rd in the NHL, tied with Steve Yzerman for ninth all-time. ... Brazeau is the third player in the past 10 years to score in his first two games with the Penguins, joining Eric Fehr (2015-16) and Danton Heinen (2020-21). ... Brunicke is the first South Africa-born player to score in the NHL. The 19-year-old was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, before moving to Calgary at age 2.