In Brooklyn Friday night, Daniel Sprong struck twice for the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-0 shutout of the Islanders.
Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for the shutout victory.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Pens.
Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for 4-0 shutout of the Isles in Brooklyn Friday night- photo by Lewis Bleiman
“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.”
Pittsburgh hopes this win portends changes in the fortunes the rest of way; they improved to 21-19-3 and need some traction in their divisional race.
“We’ve got to have a playoff mindset right now and I thought we had it tonight,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we competed hard.”
Meanwhile, the Islanders are going in the opposite direction in a hurry, having now lost five straight and dropping their record to 20-18-4.
“We just didn’t execute as well as they did,” the Isles’ 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.”
The Islanders, who flirted with the Metropolitan Division lead earlier in the season, have drifted of late in falling to just two games over .500.
“We had a good first period,” 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.”
[WATCH: All Penguins vs. Islanders highlights]
Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves in taking the loss.
“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, Weight said after the loss putting a positive spin to the skid.
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