Penguins dominate Islanders for biggest win of the season

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 30, 2026

Published in Hockey

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ELMONT, N.Y. — The Pittsburgh Penguins were reeling, trailing by two goals in the second period and facing one of the best goalies in the NHL.

They came up with a stunning response, scoring seven unanswered goals to run away with their biggest win of the season. The Penguins dominated the New York Islanders in an 8-3 victory Monday at UBS Arena.

Pittsburgh passed the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division in a massive result amid the packed Eastern Conference standings.

Anthony Mantha scored twice and added an assist. Rickard Rakell had two goals as well. Justin Brazeau registered three assists. The Penguins chased Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin from the game.

Sidney Crosby returned to the lineup after exiting Thursday’s shootout win in Ottawa with a lower-body injury and missing Saturday’s loss to the Dallas Stars. Evgeni Malkin remained out for the fourth-straight game with an upper-body injury.

The game started slowly, with the teams feeling each other out and not taking major risks. But the Penguins took control in the second half of the first period and had several excellent chances that Sorokin turned away.

Crosby was excellent in the opening 20 minutes. Pittsburgh had seven high-danger scoring chances to just one for the Islanders, per Sportlogiq. But the teams entered the first intermission scoreless.

Naturally, the second period devolved into chaos. The teams combined for eight goals. The Penguins scored five of them.

The period didn’t start out well for Pittsburgh, particularly not for goalie Arturs Silovs. The Islanders scored the opening goal on a power play, as Adam Boqvist fired a shot off the end boards and Anders Lee backhanded it in to continue the Penguins’ penalty kill struggles without forward Blake Lizotte.

In less than 90 seconds, the Islanders had a multi-goal lead. They ended up on a 2-on-1 out of nowhere, and Mathew Barzal beat Silovs on the rush. It was a pretty soft goal.

The Penguins’ fourth line provided a critical answer. Elmer Soderblom knocked in a loose puck at the end of a great shift to cut the deficit in half.

It would grow again, as Brayden Schenn pounced on a big rebound surrendered by Silovs.

The Penguins answered with a shocking six-and-a-half minute shelling of one of the game’s best goalies.

Rakell started the barrage with a shorthanded goal, running a give-and-go with Bryan Rust in a big response from the Pittsburgh penalty kill.

Ryan Shea tied the game less than three minutes later, firing a shot bar down off a feed from Mantha — who was just getting going.

Brazeau launched Mantha on a breakaway, and he tied the team goals lead with a filthy backhand.

Mantha one-upped himself shortly after. He scored his 29th of the season on a nasty move that left Sorokin flailing.

The Penguins haven’t exactly done a good job of protecting third-period leads this season. But they got the final 20 minutes off to a solid start. Ben Kindel fired a beautiful feed to Avery Hayes in front of the crease, and Hayes scored for the first time since his historic two-goal debut in Buffalo to put Pittsburgh in front 6-3.

Amid a fantastic game for the rookie, Kindel carried the puck into the zone on an odd-man rush, fired a shot on goal, retrieved the rebound behind the goal and got it back to his fellow rookie for a dagger.

The Penguins stunningly chased Sorokin from the game less than two minutes later. Rakell knocked in the rebound of a Brazeau shot, and David Rittich entered the Islanders net.

It was Rakell’s second goal of the game and Brazeau’s third assist.

The Penguins kept the pressure on Rittich. Rust snapped in a feed from Crosby to make it 8-3.

It was over when …

Hayes delivered his third of the season to put the Penguins up by three goals in the third period.

Stat of the game

7: The Penguins’ unanswered goals to completely flip the game.

Around the boards

— The Penguins said Malkin is “day to day” with the upper-body injury. He was a full participant at practice in Cranberry on Sunday.

— Pittsburgh recalled Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday. He slotted in on a line with Kindel and Tommy Novak.

— Penguins coach Dan Muse made some fairly significant lineup changes Monday. Egor Chinakhov moved to the top line with Crosby and Rust. Rakell moved to second-line center between Mantha and Brazeau.

— Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen came out of the lineup.

Up next

The Penguins round out their hectic March schedule with the second leg of a back-to-back 7 p.m. ET Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings in another matchup with major Eastern Conference playoff implications.

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