Penguins come out of holiday break cold against Islanders: 3 takeaways


Few teams enter the NHL’s holiday break hotter than the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose 9-3-1 surge since Thanksgiving Eve propelled them into Stanley Cup playoff contention.

It was a good run.

But what the Penguins did after Christmas and before New Year’s Day is likely to determine what difference it made. And that’s because their opponents — a home-and-home with the New York Islanders, followed by a game at the Detroit Red Wings — had struggled mightily in December.

The Red Wings fired their coach during the break, whereas at his club’s first practice after it, the Islanders’ Patrick Roy promised fans in attendance they would work hard to turn things around.

The Islanders’ dogged work for the opening 10 minutes of the second period helped make good on Roy’s promise on Saturday night. They scored three goals during that stretch — those goals the result of won battles, races, and every inch of contested ice — to fuel a 6-3 win over the Penguins at USB Arena in Elmont, N.Y.

To their credit, the Penguins did rally. Later second-period goals by Noel Acciari and Rickard Rakell provided hope for a comeback.

One wouldn’t have been warranted, though.

The Islanders were the better team. They never trailed. They received unexpected contributions — Casey Cizikas scored twice after netting only one goal in 35 prior games. They went stretches without allowing many quality chances. They out-worked the Penguins.

Few teams have done all of that to the Penguins over the past month.

Some of it, sure. But not all.

With a rematch at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday night, there isn’t much use in over-analyzing only the Penguins’ fourth regulation loss in the last 14 games. Onto the takeaways:


This was one of those games where the Penguins really could have used something — anything? — from Drew O’Connor.

His goal drought is at 31 games. He has only six points over that stretch.

He’s fighting something fierce. It’s not a lack of effort. Still, his confidence is clearly shot.

But at what point does coach Mike Sullivan remove O’Connor from the lineup in favor of any other option?

The Penguins have benefitted from solid scoring depth during their run of success. They are not, though, so deep that continuing to dress a forward who has delivered only three goals and 10 points is viable.

They could get similar production from any veteran and/or prospect in the AHL. And perhaps watching a few games from the media level would do O’Connor good — not as punishment, but a break.

Then again, he just had three days away because of the holiday break.

It’s really difficult to envision the Penguins reaching the playoffs if O’Connor continues to struggle as he has and his spot in the lineup remains secure.

Nifty Ricky

Rakell has scored 10 goals in the last 14 games. He’s scored a goal in nine of those games — so this isn’t a situation where his stats are inflated.

On pace for a 38-goal season, Rakell looks nothing like the player who toiled last season, scoring only 15 goals. He’s been a significant reason the Penguins have gone from a bottom-feeder going into Thanksgiving week to a postseason contender heading into the New Year.

He’s 31. He has two seasons remaining on a deal that counts $5 million against the salary cap.

There is unlikely to be demand for a winger his age and with his contract on the trade market. The Penguins would probably need to retain at least $1 million of his cap hit to entice a Cup contender to take on his contract.

Looking back, trading Jake Guentzel was an easy call for Kyle Dubas in his first season as president of hockey/general manager. Guentzel was looking at a big payday in free agency. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson is in a similar situation, though his payday won’t be as large this summer.

Pettersson appears close to returning from a lower-body injury that has sidelined him for the past few weeks.

What Dubas decides to do with Rakell, especially if the Penguins remain in playoff contention going into the trade-deadline period, should provide insight into whether the big boss in Pittsburgh believes a potential playoff appearance this season is worth hanging onto a player who suddenly seems like an asset.

History denied

Sidney Crosby was originally credited with a secondary assist on Michael Bunting’s first-period goal. That assist pushed Crosby ahead of Mario Lemieux on the Penguins’ all-time list.

The assist was rescinded between periods.

Doesn’t happen often to Crosby.

But maybe it’s for the best?

Anytime Crosby passes Lemieux for a team record, doing so in Pittsburgh would be optimal. He’ll have a chance to do that Sunday night

(Photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)



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