Lars Eller scored twice Sunday as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the visiting New York Islanders 3-1 in a Metropolitan Division matchup.
It was Pittsburgh’s second win against the Islanders in five days.
Noel Acciari also scored for the Penguins, who won their third straight game and moved to 7-1-1 in their past nine games.
Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 37 saves, many of them acrobatic. He improved to 3-0-1 in his past four starts. He stepped in after Tristan Jarry picked up a shutout when the teams met Wednesday.
Samuel Bolduc scored for the Islanders, who have lost two of their past three. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves.
In a nod to what happened Wednesday, when the Penguins dismantled the Islanders 7-0, Pittsburgh’s John Ludvig and New York’s Matt Martin fought off the opening faceoff, seven seconds into regulation.
Eller gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 2:18 of the first. From the bottom of the left circle, Jansen Harkins got a pass around Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov and to Eller on the far side of the crease. Eller scored on a one-timer past Sorokin’s glove.
At 2:20 of the second, Acciari upped it to 2-0. Drew O’Connor threw the puck toward the net from the lower right-wing boards. From the near corner of the crease, Acciari tipped the puck backward between his skates. It glanced off a skate of New York defenseman Scott Mayfield and under Sorokin’s pads.
Pittsburgh captain and leading goal-scorer Sidney Crosby missed about seven minutes of the second period after he got cut on the left cheek by the stick of the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal on a follow-through.
Bolduc spoiled Nedeljkovic’s shutout bid when he cut it to 2-1 at 13:51 of the third. Barzal, from deep, sent the puck to the front of the net. It caromed off the skate of Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter and out to Bolduc, whose shot from the left dot sailed past Nedeljkovic’s blocker.
Eller added an empty-netter with 42.1 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
