Crosby, Jarry help Penguins hand Islanders fifth straight loss

NEW YORK -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists, and Daniel Sprong scored twice to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the New York Islanders 4-0 at Barclays Center on Friday.

Evgeni Malkin scored, and Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for the Penguins (21-19-3).
"We played fast, we generated a lot of shots, a lot of opportunities so that's more of the way we need to play," said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain, who had his first four-point game of the season. "Especially coming off of a 4-0 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday]. We had a quick turnaround. That one was fresh in our mind and I thought we responded well."
***[WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Islanders highlights]*
Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves for the Islanders (20-18-4), who have lost five straight. The Islanders were shut out for the third time this season and have been outscored 25-8 during the losing streak.
"We just didn't execute as well as they did," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "When you're not getting results and things seem to be going against you, it's easy to fight it mentally so it's important to just take it one day at a time."
Sprong scored his first goal of the season to give the Penguins a 1-0 at 41 seconds of the second period, one-timing a pass from Crosby on a 2-on-1.

"I remember watching him play when I was younger and getting an opportunity to play with him is pretty special," the 20-year-old forward said of Crosby.
Malkin made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 3:30. Crosby sent a cross-ice pass to Malkin, who one-timed it from the right face-off circle.
"We've got to have a playoff mindset right now and I thought we had it tonight," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought we competed hard."
Crosby scored from the goal line at 15:50 of the second period to make it 3-0.
Crosby, who assisted on Sprong's second goal at 13:28 of the third period, has 107 points (33 goals, 74 assists) in 60 games against the Islanders, his most against any team.

"We knew how important this game was and we came in here and had a strong game," said Crosby, who scored for the first time in nine games.
It was the second shutout of the season for Jarry, who made 34 saves in a 4-0 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 1.
"It always helps to get those," Jarry said. "There was a couple [of shutouts] where I might have left one on the table, I let one in late so it was nice to get that."
The Islanders have lost five straight games in regulation for the first time since Nov. 19-29, 2013.
"We had a good first period," New York forward Cal Clutterbuck said. "It was 0-0 and then just making mistakes that you can't make as a professional. It's 1-0, they get a power play and it's 2-0 and we're chasing the game again. It's been the storyline a lot lately."

Goal of the game

Sprong's goal at 41 seconds of the second period.

Save of the game

Jarry's save on Casey Cizikas with 1:37 remaining in the first period.

Highlight of the game

Crosby's goal at 15:50 of the second period.

They said it

"I think this is something we can build off of, but at the same time, we should be excited to be in this kind of a race and play meaningful games every night, playing a lot of teams that we are chasing. It makes for exciting hockey. You want to be a part of those big games and we will have a lot of them coming up." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"Yeah, we are concerned. At the same time, we are [two] points out [of a Stanley Cup Playoff spot] and if you can go on a string ... it's a crazy long year" -- Islanders coach Doug Weight

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Need to know

The Penguins, who were 0-4-2 and had been outscored 36-12 in the second game of back-to-backs, have won three straight, outscoring opponents 14-3. ... Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and forward Carter Rowney (upper body) each missed his second straight game. ... Islanders forward Josh Bailey left the game in the first period (lower body) after playing 2:52. Weight said he expected him to be out for a while. ... New York defenseman Ryan Pulock and forward Andrew Ladd left the game in the third period and did not return, but no updates were provided.

What's next

Penguins: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Islanders:Host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday (1 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG, NHL.TV)