3 Takeaways From Penguins Disappointing 6-3 Loss To Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins compete with over five teams, including the New York Islanders, for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

However, for the second time this season, Pittsburgh dropped a meaningful game at UBS Arena, falling 6-3 to the Islanders on Saturday night. In contests at the new rink this season, the Penguins are 0-1-1, getting outscored 10-6.

Thankfully, the Ottawa Senators lost, allowing Pittsburgh to remain one point out of the playoff picture.

But both the Penguins and Islanders meet again tonight at PPG Paints Arena, and if New York wins again, they would be tied in points after beginning Saturday night four points back.

Tale of Two Lineups

Heading into the break, the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, winning 7-3, the first game they scored at least seven since defeating the Montreal Canadiens 9-2 on Dec. 12.

Interestingly, in their next game, the Senators shut them down, edging Pittsburgh 3-2 in overtime, forcing the visitors to rally from two separate one-goal deficits.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and another team grasping for points shut down the Penguins, doubling them on the scoreboard in a crucial game on the schedule.

Thus far in 2024-25, Pittsburgh has scored at least six goals six times. In the following contests, they are 2-4-0.

So, instead of finding momentum from blowout wins, the Penguins tend to stumble in the next game, which costs them valuable points in the standings.

Metropolitan Division Woes Continue

The Penguins are approaching the halfway point of their season and now have a 16-16-5 record after 37 games. They are one of six teams in the Eastern Conference to play 37 games already, which means they don’t have many games in hand on opponents.

Moreover, their Achilles heel this season has been games against the Metropolitan Division, where they are now 2-7-1. Although they are not in the division’s basement, when anyone looks at the numbers against their closest rivals, it seems like they are.

Crosby Robbed of Penguins History

Down 1-0 in the first period, Michael Bunting scored a powerplay goal with an assist from Sidney Crosby, whose 1,034th helper gave him the Penguins’ assist record, breaking a tie with Mario Lemieux.

However, the official scoring on the goal was changed, and Crosby’s assist went to Rickard Rakell instead. When social media erupted to celebrate the captain’s milestone point, it was all taken away within no time.

Although Crosby didn’t get the milestone assist on Saturday, he’s got a chance to do it again on Sunday in front of the hometown crowd, where he recently scored his 600th goal.

As a handful of social media accounts pointed out, the record falling is just a matter of time.

Penguins & Islanders Trivia Answers

How did you score in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Here are the answers.

1. Jaromir Jagr

2. Mario Lemieux

3. Eric Godard

4. Kris Letang

5. Sidney Crosby

6. Darius Kasparatis

7. Mario Lemieux

8. Sidney Crosby

9. Doug Shedden

10. Francois Leroux