Penguins punch ticket in win over Isles

In Pittsburgh, the Penguins downed the New York Islanders on Thursday night, 6-3, to clinch a spot in the post season.“I think it’s a remarkable accomplishment,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s hard to make the playoffs. Half of the League doesn’t make it every year. … There’s a lot of good teams every season that don’t make it. The fact that this organization has done it 16 consecutive years in a row, in my mind, is a remarkable achievement.”

Jake Guentzel hit for a double and had four points in the win.

Tristan Jarry made 36 saves in the Pens win.

“I think if we focus on our own game and trying to accomplish what we want, that’s going to give us the result,” the Penguins’ Kris Letang said. “I think it’s just a question of keep getting better every day. Try to correct little things in our plans going into games.”

Zach Parise, Anders Lee, and Zdeno Chara scored for the Islanders.

New York dropped to 34-30-9.

“[The Penguins are] a team you can’t trade chances with,” New York coach Barry Trotz said. “You have to execute. When you don’t, they can jump on you. So, they do.”

Kris Letang  and Danton Heinen staked the Pens to a 2-0 lead.

“We understood that there was a lot of hockey left,” Lee said. “I think we did have a couple chances in the first that gave us enough life to keep building on. It’s one of those games against one of these teams, we’re in it all the way until the end. You saw that tonight. We just settled in and played our game better the rest of the last 40.”

Pittsburgh improved to 43-22-11.

Sidney Crosby scored in the third period for the Pens, and Brock McGinn  added an empty net goal for the 6-3 final.

“Every year is a challenge,” Crosby said. “You need so many things to go right to give yourself an opportunity to play in the playoffs. It’s not given to you. To see how tight the League is, it’s not easy. So, you appreciate those opportunities.”

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the New York loss.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s always nice to score a goal in the National Hockey League,” Chara said. “Obviously, I had way too many opportunities where I kind of hit a crossbar or post this season. It finally went in, (it’s) just too bad it wasn’t earlier or a better time in the game. Hopefully, the next one is going to help us win a hockey game.”