Pens even series with Game 2 win

In Pittsburgh, Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter scored in the first period for the Penguins in a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

Jeff Carter had a goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins

The win even’s series for the Pens at 1-1 heading to Uniondale.

“I think, for us, we’re just trying to get out there and get to our game as fast as we can,” Rust said. “Get out there, have a good start, create some momentum. Obviously, when you score the first goal, there’s no better way of doing that.”

Tristan Jarry made 37 saves for the win.

“I think I was just trying to keep it simple,” Jarry said. “Just trying to get better than I was last game. I think that was something that I wanted to improve, be better tonight. I think that was an easy thing to do.”

Josh Bailey scored the Isles only goal in the middle frame.

“I think we just stayed with it,” New York’s Scott Mayfield said. “At home, they’re going to have a push right off the start. That’s kind of what’s nice about playing at home. On the road, it’s a little tough sometimes.

“The fans were buzzing and it was loud in there. They had a little push at the start. Our biggest thing is staying with our game plan. I think we got to it eventually.”

The Pens were able to keep the Bailey goal from sparking the Isles offense.

“I thought Tristan had a great game,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s done that for us for most of this year. He’s been a big part of the success that this team has enjoyed to this point.”

Game 3 is st for Nassau Coliseum on Thursday where the Islanders will try to get back the series lead.

“There’s no magic pill that I can give everybody, ‘Take this and have a good start,'” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “It comes from within. … It’s on the room to do that. They know. We’ve talked about that, getting off to a good start. Best way you can is simplify your game, get after it, get determined, win your battles. Usually, it works out that way.

Semyon Varlamov made 43 saves in the loss.

“I thought [Varlamov] was excellent after the first goal,”  Trotz said. “I thought there were moments where they could’ve made it a 3-1 game and he came up with some key saves. … I thought he was moving well. He was crisp. All of that.”