Penguins/Islanders Recap: Pens finish out the season with loss to NYI

The game didn’t count for anything besides one last chance to see the Penguins this season

Pregame

It’s a meaningless Game No 82 for the Penguins, who saw their playoff hopes disappear last night due to the results in Philadelphia and Montreal. They play out the string with the following lineup, Tristan Jarry stays on the bench, Emil Bemstrom is injured from last game so he won’t hit six goals with the Penguins and trigger a bigger trade cost, drawing Jesse Puljujarvi back in.

First period

The Penguins don’t look excited or happy to be in Long Island early, can’t blame them for that. Brock Nelson scores a goal to put the Islanders up early.

Pittsburgh figures to give it the old college try though. Michael Bunting sets Rickard Rakell up and his shot leaks through Ilya Sorokin. 1-1.

Second period

Three future Hall of Famers combine for the next goal, which rules out NYI scoring it. Evgeni Malkin posts up in front and his swinging leg isn’t ruled a kicking motion, so that’s cool. Sidney Crosby uses it to bounce a puck into the net, Erik Karlsson also picks up an assist.

Reilly Smith makes a bad outlet passes that takes a good bounce off old friend Bobby Borts and lands on Valtteri Puustinen’s stick. He snaps it home past Sorokin but was comically offsides. Another coach’s challenge takes away a Pittsburgh goal this week but at least this one is unequivocally the accurate call.

NYI rebounds from that break to tie the game at 2 but then Puustinen beats Sorokin again and does it legally this time.

The Islanders get a power play and score to tie the game at 3 with 15 seconds to go. Pittsburgh challenge for the puck being played with a high stick and it’s close, but close isn’t good enough to overturn the good goal call on the ice.

Third period

The Islanders get a lucky bounce and score on the carryover penalty on the failed challenge. 4-3 NYI,

In a nice sentimental moment, Crosby generates another goal by banking it in off a teammate. This time Carter is the recipient at front of the net. A nice send off for a goal in his final period of NHL hockey to end up with what would be Pittsburgh’s final goal of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Islanders score again, which adds up to not needing OT, which works out just fine. Pens fall 5-4, and another season is in the books.

Some thoughts

• The more I think about it, the less I’d say there’s anything to read into a message being sent to or about Tristan Jarry with the decision to play Nedeljkovic here. If the Pens would have needed to win this game (as in: how they were operating in preparations until last night), they would have played Nedeljkovic. Throwing Tristan Jarry in there now that it turns out the game doesn’t count would have been a bigger insulting signal to send to him. Might as well play it out as planned.
• Jeff Carter got an honorary nod to start the opening shift of the game with Sidney Crosby. Jonathan Quick (a Carter teammate back from the LA Kings glory days) and currently of the crosstown Rangers, was at this game in a luxury box joining Carter’s wife and kids. Carter got a little extra squeeze during the hug for his goal from everyone on the ice and Malkin even made sure to grab the puck and take over to the bench, and later even got some hugs and handshakes from referee Wes McCauley during a break in the action. There was no official announcement of a retirement prior the game, but it was all the gestures that come with a farewell for Carter — even before the whole Islander team came over to shake hands with him at the end of the game like it was his own personal playoff series.
• Stick taps to six Penguins for being ironmen and appearing in all 82 this season. Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson, Letang, Eller and Pettersson. Not sure whether to cry or wind my watch about the fact “old” core stayed completely healthy to show up for every game and generally played well, and yet the road ends today.
• Crosby got two points in the game, good for 94 on the season. No NHLer at 36-years old has ever scored more. Failed to score a penalty shot in the game’s last minute, and while it would have been nice, it was a charitable act to not have to see another OT game in a way.
• It’s also amazing that Puustinen only scored five goals in 52 NHL games this season with his shot and general offensive ability. And three of those goals came against the Islanders (with that other one tonight taken away). They’re going to get a complex over him.
• The “Sam Lafferty Memorial Award for player who tries the hardest in a game that doesn’t matter” goes to....Michael Bunting! Not a knock, by the way - a good sign of professionalism to only know one speed of how to play and live up to it by trying hard and going full tilt the whole time.
• That does it for another year of recaps in the books, thanks as always to our loyal and dedicated readers for joining us, it is much appreciated! The blog doesn’t stop with the season, we’ll be here to follow and offer thoughts on all the upcoming Penguin and NHL news, rumors and action that happens throughout what is sure to be a busy an exciting offseason.