Simon Holmstrom roofed a shot for the go-ahead goal at 14:27 of the third as the New York Islanders topped the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Holmstrom, Brock Nelson and Samuel Bolduc each had a goal and an assist, and Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders, who finished the regular season 39-27-16. They begin a playoff series Saturday against Carolina.
New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 41 saves. Sorokin made a save on a penalty shot by Sidney Crosby with 29.5 seconds left.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist; Rickard Rakell, Valtteri Puustinen and Jeff Carter also scored; and Crosby and Michael Bunting each had two assists for the Penguins, who finished 38-32-12 after being eliminated from playoff contention a night earlier.
Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves.
Nelson gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 4:56 of the first on a backdoor play set up by Holmstrom.
At 18:29 of the first, Rakell tied it for the Penguins on a blast from near the top of the left circle.
Malkin scored career goal No. 498 on a power play at 6:14 of the second for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead. A pass from Crosby went in off him. There was a review to ensure that Malkin did not kick the puck in.
At 7:05 of the second, Puustinen beat Sorokin on a short breakaway, but the Islanders successfully challenged that he was offside.
Cizikas tied it 2-2 at 13:19 of the second on a deflection of a shot by Alexander Romanov.
Puustinen got one that stood 1:18 later for a 3-2 Penguins’ lead. He stole the puck in the slot and shot it over Sorokin’s glove.
A power-play goal by Palmieri withstood a Penguins challenge with 15.5 seconds left in the second for another tie.
Bolduc got a power-play goal at 1:36 of the third for a 4-3 New York lead when his shot went in off Pittsburgh’s Ryan Shea.
On a power play, Carter deflected the puck in at 10:56 of the third for a 4-all tie.
–Field Level Media
