PITTSBURGH — Just when things were getting interesting, the real Penguins showed up. The ones who can’t protect leads. Or make good decisions with the puck.
Or take a hit to make a play. Or avoid allowing ridiculous odd-man breaks. Riding a four-game winning streak and a two-goal lead into the second intermission, the Penguins looked impotent while being steamrolled in the third period on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena, falling 4-2 to the New York Islanders.
Advertisement “That,” Rickard Rakell said, “was bad.” It was. A Kris Letang turnover only seconds into the third period led to a Kyle Palmieri breakaway.
He hit the post but the puck caromed off of Tristan Jarry and in to open the floodgates. Five minutes later, while protecting a 2-1 lead, the Penguins gave up the rather rare four-on-two, which led to Noah Dobson’s game-tying tally. Erik Karlsson then went puck-hunting in the neutral zone, opening a lane for Pierre Engvall, who beat Jarry for the game-winner.
“I think we got too passive and just made too many mistakes,” Rakell said. Mike Sullivan took it a step further. He disagreed with the assessment that the Penguins became too passive in the third period.
Rather, he was disillusioned by all of the turnovers and odd-man rushes against. And he wasn’t too impressed with his team’s physical effort, noting that the Penguins were pushed around far too much in the final 20 minutes. “We didn’t play hard enough,” he said.
The Penguins started the nigh.