Islanders get two goals apiece from Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee in victory over Penguins
Casey Cizikas #53 of the Islanders celebrates his third period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at UBS Arena on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 in Elmont. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders played with purpose and structure sprinkled with a fair amount of anger.
So they won the first game of a crucial home-and-home with the Penguins, 6-3, on Saturday night at UBS Arena, a strong bounce-back after entering the NHL’s holiday break with a dismal 7-1 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Monday — a game in which they gave up a season high in goals to a team that had lost 13 in a row.
“It was massive,” said Casey Cizikas, who scored two goals after being elevated from the fourth line at the expense of a struggling Maxim Tsyplakov and gave the Islanders breathing room with a breakaway goal that made it 5-3 at 14:43 of the third period. “We wanted to respond well, especially with the way we went into the break.
“We got embarrassed. That definitely stung all of us.”
Yet this will be a hollow victory, just the latest in a season’s worth of stops and starts, if they don’t follow it up with another win in less than 24 hours in Pittsburgh.
For now, the Islanders (14-15-7) moved out of last place in the Metropolitan Division and within two points of the Penguins (16-16-5).
“Let’s hammer it home,” said Anders Lee, who clinched the win with an empty-net goal after his work at the crease led to a 3-1 lead at 8:36 of the second period, part of a three-goal barrage in a four-minute span. “It’s a great home-and-home. It’s always a tight divisional game. I know they’ll be ready to respond.”
As for the Islanders’ response to the brutal loss to the Sabres, Lee said, “We came in wanting to have some fun tonight, play a little loose. I think it was focused work tonight and I think we were dialed in. But to say there wasn’t some underlying vinegar, I’d be lying.”
Ilya Sorokin, making a career-high 12th straight start, stopped 22 shots. The Penguins’ Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.
It was a good start — albeit just one game — to a now-or-never time frame for the Islanders to start making a playoff push.
“No one was happy to be embarrassed in front of our fans,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I could tell. Today, when I did the meeting before the game, I think they didn’t want to listen to me. They wanted to go on the ice and they wanted to play that game. It didn’t matter what I would say.”
These two games against the Penguins are the start of a stretch of seven of 15 through Jan. 30 against divisional opponents. But it’s a great opportunity to make up ground in the standings only if the Islanders start stringing wins together. They have only two two-game winning streaks this season and have yet to win three straight.
They also will play eight of their 12 games next month at UBS Arena, including a season-high seven-game homestand from Jan. 14-28.
The Islanders built a 4-1 lead on Cizikas’ deflection at 9:39 of the second period. Anthony Duclair, taking Kyle Palmieri’s patient feed, had made it 2-1 at 5:39.
But the Islanders didn’t buckle in a tightly played third period after Noel Acciari, at 13:49, and Rickard Rakell, on a deflection with four seconds left in the second period, brought the Penguins within a goal.
Notes & quotes: Roy moved Cizikas onto Bo Horvat’s line with Simon Holmstrom in the second period after Tsyplakov took penalties in the offensive zone in the first and second periods. “Sippy had a so-so game,” Roy said. “Two bad penalties, not necessary, and a couple of turnovers. We’re here to win hockey games, it’s not a charity event, and he wasn’t playing well.” . . . Backup goalie Marcus Hogberg is expected to start on Sunday. For Hogberg, who spent the previous three seasons in the Swedish Hockey League, it would be his first NHL start since April 28, 2021, when he earned the win for the Ottawa Senators against the Vancouver Canucks. “It’s my job to be ready when they need me,” said Hogberg, who has stopped all 17 shots he’s faced in two one-period relief appearances since being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Dec. 5 . . . Goalie Semyon Varlamov (lower body/long-term injured reserve) has not resumed skating. He last played on Nov. 29.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
