Sidney Crosby had his first two-goal game since October 20, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Kyle Okposo’s four goals as the Penguins fell to the Islanders by a final score of 6-3.
The Penguins started well; a pair of powerplay goals were separated by just 1:30 in the first period. Crosby opened the scoring at 10:52 following a tripping penalty by Michael Grabner before David Perron slipped the puck past Jaroslav Halak following a high-sticking penalty. The goal was Perron’s fourth in five games since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers.
This is the first time since November 8 that the team has scored two powerplay goals in a single game.
Okposo, who registered his first career NHL hat trick, rounded out the first period scoring with just over three minutes to play.
Crosby and the Islanders’ Ryan Strome traded a pair of goals in the second period. The captain’s second goal came after a delayed penalty with just 4.4 seconds left to play.
Okposo turned up the heat in the third period, scoring three of his four goals in the last twenty minutes of regulation play. Grabner finalized the score after collecting an empty net goal with less than two minutes remaining.
The Penguins couldn’t overcome penalty trouble and struggled with frustration in the third. Steve Downie was goaded into taking a retaliatory penalty that likely cost the team a chance at a comeback.
Of the penalty, head coach Mike Johnston said, “That was not a smart penalty. We can’t take penalties like that at that time of the game. You’ve just got to play through things like that. They’re a tough, gritty team and you just have to play through it.
Crosby expressed his disappointment in the team’s performance in the final period. “We just didn’t raise our level enough in the third. I thought at the start of it we did, but as we went on we just didn’t make smart plays. We hurt ourselves with some of the decisions we made.”
Marc-Andre Fleury had 29 saves for the evening; Halak had 21 in the winning effort.
The Penguins will return to Consol Energy Center on Sunday, January 18 to face off against the New York Rangers. NBC will broadcast the game; the puck will drop at 12:30 p.m.
Photo Credit: penguins.nhl.com
