Empty Thoughts: Penguins 2, Islanders 1

Observations from the Penguins’ 2-1 win against the Islanders:

It wasn’t Bryan Rust’s most elegant moment during his prolific postseason career.

As the Penguins were protecting a one-goal lead against a desperate Islanders team, Rust tried to get the puck out of his own zone.

And sure enough, he did that.

It just happened to be in an illegal fashion.

Grabbing the puck out of mid-air, he lobbed it with his left arm toward the other side of the defensive blue line almost like a wobbly pass by would-be NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

Officials blew play dead and — given that the Islanders had yet to have a power-play to that point of the contest — called Rust for closing his hand on the puck at the 18:32 mark of the third period.

After a timeout by the Islanders to get organized, the Penguins had 88 seconds to shut things down and secure a vital win.

They allowed a single shot over that span and bailed Rust out.

“I was just so worried about getting the puck over the blue line, getting it out of the zone that I made kind of a mental error there,” Rust said via video conference. “Closed my hand on the puck for too long and threw it out of the zone. It’s a penalty but our guys did an unbelievable job. They were great. They were working hard for me and the team. You saw how much the crowd got into it. Our guys just fed off that emotion. They did an unbelievable job tonight.

“I’ve got to thank those guys.”

His teammates could probably thank Rust as well.

His goal just over three minutes into regulation gave the Penguins the first lead, a valuable commodity under any circumstances but even more so against the stagnant defense of the Islanders.

Beyond the team-wide ramifications, the goal was key for Rust as it was only his second postseason goal since 2018.

Rust was largely “introduced” to Pittsburgh during the Stanley Cup runs of 2016 and 2017 by scoring big goals in big moments. Goals that clinched playoff series. Things like that. In 46 games over those two postseasons, Rust had 13 goals.

In contrast, Rust has played in 22 games and has only five goals over the past four postseasons (including Game 2 on Tuesday).

“Big Game” Bryan Rust made a much-needed return Tuesday.

“(Rust’s) game is invaluable to this team,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He does a lot more than just score goals but certainly, we rely on him to help us offensively. … He’s just a complete player. He brings a ton of speed to our game. He’s got a good solid two-way game, he’s good defensively and his offensive game has just evolved to another level. He’s an important player for us.“

What happened

Rust’s score 3:22 into regulation supplied the Penguins an early lead. After a neutral zone turnover by Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, Rust claimed the puck, gained the offensive zone and veered to the left wing. As Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech applied minimal resistance, Rust chucked a fairly pedestrian wrister past the glove hand of goaltender Semyon Varlamov on the near side. It was Rust’s first goal of the playoffs. There were no assists.

They went up by two at 13:07 of the first. After Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen kept a puck free on the Islanders’ end boards, linemate Jared McCann flicked a backhand pass to the left circle for Jeff Carter. Circumnavigating around Pulock, Carter fired a wrister from the slot through Varlamov’s five hole for his first playoff goal as a member of the Penguins and first since 2016. McCann and Kapanen collected assists.

After snuffing out two power-play chances for the Penguins during the second period, the Islanders got on the scoreboard at 14:44 of the middle frame. Taking a pass on the left half wall of the offensive zone, Islanders forward Josh Bailey deked around a lethargic pokecheck from Carter in the left circle and shoveled a backhander past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove on the far side for his first goal. Forward Brock Nelson and defenseman Scott Mayfield tallied assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 45-38.

• Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield each led the game with seven shots.

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang led the game with 26:42 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Defenseman Nick Leddy led the Islanders with 22:34 of ice time on 29 shifts.

• The Penguins had a 26-24 edge in faceoffs (52%).

• Carter was 10 for 15 (67%).

• Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau was 10 for 19 (53%).

• Mayfield led the game with four blocked shots.

• Letang led the Penguins with three blocked shots.

• Jarry made 37 saves on 38 shots.

• Varlamov made 43 saves on 45 shots.

Randomly speaking

• Jarry was under the spotlight this game and he came through. After his subpar performance in Game 1, he looked light-years better in this contest. He wasn’t perfect by any means. There were a few rebounds off of shots from the perimeter that provided some anxious moments. But he was largely in control of this game.

Jarry earned this win as well as the adulation of the 9,000 or so souls cheering his name throughout the night.

• There have probably been car wrecks on the Parkway East that were less physical than this game. These teams went at each other at a far fiercer pace than in Game 1. There were two notable instances of this.

First, at 15:03 of the second period, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev dove headfirst after a puck sliding in on the Islanders’ net to jab a shot on net. After Varlamov made the save, Tanev crashed into him then struck his head and right shoulder off the right post of the cage, dislodging it.

Islanders forward Matt Martin took issue and cross-checked Tanev who was in discomfort on the ice. A large scrum ensued. Athletic trainer Chris Stewart attended to Tanev. As officials seemed to cool things down, Tanev (6-foot, 180 pounds) checked out OK with Stewart then started jawing with the much larger Mayfield (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) and tempers sparked up again.

Then, only 46 seconds into the third period, the Penguins made a furious offensive rush at the Islanders’ net but had the sequence broken up on a strong backcheck by Pageau. In the process, Pageau just planted Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin into the boards awkwardly and violently.

A small scrum broke out as Stewart came out again to check on Dumoulin who eventually recovered to his skates and made his way to the dressing room to get an examination.

Dumoulin eventually returned to the bench and completed the game.

The Penguins canceled their practice Wednesday, presumably to give their players a chance to ice up.

• The officials — referees T.J. Luxmore and Gord Dwyer as well as linesmen Matt MacPherson and Brandon Gawryletz — did not call this thing tight at all. They let a lot go for both teams. In that respect, it was a fairly even fray.

• Even if they allowed 38 shots overall, the Penguins’ commitment to defense was very evident. They limited the Islanders to one shot in the final 5:45 of regulation, including the last 88 seconds with a power play and an extra attacker with Varlamov pulled.

• The power play looked awful for the Penguins, going 0 for 2. They had some shots and chances on their first power-play opportunity of Game 1 but since then, it’s almost gotten progressively worse. The Islanders’ penalty killers almost looked tired from clearing the puck so much.

• The Islanders could use a bigger contribution from their top line, particularly Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle.

A Penguin killer, Eberle has had a few chances here and there but Barzal has been missing in action through six-plus periods. He needs to offer his team more.

• Islanders coach Barry Trotz went back to Varlamov in net after he sat out Game 1 as a precaution due to an undisclosed injury. He was certainly shaky on Rust’s goal but he leveled things off and looked like the goaltender who led the NHL in shutouts this season.

Historically speaking

• Jarry earned his first career postseason win.

• The Penguins won a postseason game in PPG Paints Arena for the first time since they defeated the Washington Capitals, 3-1, in Game 4 of a second-round series, May 3, 2018.

• Carter scored his first postseason goal since April 22, 2016. As a member of the Los Angeles Kings, he had a goal in a 6-3 home loss to the San Jose Sharks.

• Kapanen has points in consecutive postseason games for the first time in his career.

Publicly speaking

• Penguins defenseman Matheson on Jarry:

“He was so solid for us. All game long. Not just down the stretch. He was making big save after big save. That’s the Tristan Jarry we all know and love. It was great to see that.”

• Rust on the rough tactics implemented by the Islanders:

“We’re kind of pushing through it. We’re a team that’s built on resilience. That shows its face in many forms. Our guys do a really good job of playing really hard hockey and just trying to do the right things.”

• Trotz on the game:

“They had more desperation on their game. We were a little bit light in some areas. We didn’t make it hard enough on them. We have that. … They were desperate in the battles. We needed more desperation in our battles.”

• Trotz on starting Varlamov over Ilya Sorokin, the fellow Russian who won Game 1:

“Varlamov has been our No. 1 goalie all year. He’s got seven shutouts. He’s been outstanding, he has set team records and he’s fully healthy. We wouldn’t be maybe in the playoffs if it wasn’t for (Varlamov’s) performance this year. That’s, to me, very, very simple. He was very close to being 100% (for Game 1) but we thought let’s make sure that he’s ready. Felt very confident in Sorokin’s ability to come in here and give us a good game (in Game 1) and he did. (Varlamov) backed it up with a really strong game as well (in Game 2). … I can’t make a bad decision based on our goaltenders. And I will tell you this, there will be a Russian goaltender in the net for the Islanders the next game.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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