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PITTSBURGH — Jordan Eberle scored twice to help the New York Islanders to a 6-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
Eberle’s first goal, which gave the Islanders a 4-2 lead on a power play at 11:56 of the second period, chased Penguins goalie Matt Murray from the game. His second made it 5-2 at 13:49.
The Islanders (6-4-1) outscored their opponents 14-5 during a three-game road sweep of Metropolitan Division teams.
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Penguins highlights]
“I know it’s early on in the year but these games are important,” Eberle said. “You get into a three-game road trip stretch against three divisional teams, you want to win. … So we’re just going to keep trying to play the same way, keep building on our game. Obviously take the lesson tonight and move on.”
Video: NYI@PIT: Eberle pots second goal on odd-man rush
Robin Lehner made 23 saves on 25 shots for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss replaced him to start the third period and stopped 12 of 13 shots.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz said Lehner experienced a little strain. No further update was provided.
Murray was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots for Pittsburgh (6-2-2), which had won four in a row. Casey DeSmith made 14 saves on 16 shots in relief.
“Sometimes you make the change, it’s not so much about the goalie. It’s about the rest of the group,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “So we just thought it was the right thing to do at that particular time. … I don’t fault Matt for the goals. I think they were such high-quality chances, they were very, very difficult saves.”
The Islanders scored on three of their first seven shots, four of their first nine and five of their first 10. But Trotz wasn’t satisfied.
Video: NYI@PIT: Nelson, Bailey combine for smooth tally
“I just thought our first period was maybe one of our worst periods of the season,” Trotz said. “We had heavy boots. We weren’t skating. We were watching the game. As I always say to you, if we’re watching the game, we’re watching ourselves lose, so we were watching and they were moving around.”
Andrew Ladd and Brock Nelson put New York ahead 2-0 before Dominik Simon and Sidney Crosby scored to tie it. Ladd gave New York a 1-0 lead at 10:43 of the first period before Nelson made it 2-0 at 12:28 with his fifth in his past five games.
Simon cut it to 2-1 at 14:24. Crosby, who has six goals in his past four games, tied it 2-2 at 17:41. Crosby was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Monday.
Video: NYI@PIT: Crosby picks the corner on Lehner
Matt Martin gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 9:32 of the second period before Eberle scored twice. Eberle’s second goal was upheld after the Penguins challenged if Adam Pelech was offside while entering the zone.
Evgeni Malkin scored on the first shot Greiss faced to cut it to 5-3 at 1:23 of the third period before Tom Kuhnhackl scored against his former team to extend New York’s lead to 6-3 at 9:44. It was Kuhnhackl’s first goal for the Islanders in his fourth game.
They said it
“It felt great [to score against the Penguins]. I didn’t even know if I should celebrate or not. I guess good things happen when you throw pucks on the net. I’m just happy it went in.” — Islanders forward Tom Kuhnhackl
Video: NYI@PIT: Kuhnhackl scores off defender’s skate
“We would’ve liked a better result. A lot of different emotions, I think, going through our mind to start. But the bottom line is we wanted to find a way to get a win for a lot of reasons, so unfortunately it didn’t happen.” — Penguins forward Sidney Crosby
Need to know
The Penguins honored the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting and their families before the game. A moment of silence lasting 11 seconds, one for each of the 11 people killed, was held after a video celebrating diversity and inclusion played. … Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury. He remains day to day, Trotz said. … New York has won its past six games against Metropolitan Division opponents, including each of its four this season. … Malkin has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in an eight-game point streak. … Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who is day to day, did not play after being named a game-time decision after the morning skate Tuesday. He left practice early Monday because of precautionary reasons stemming from a lower-body injury sustained against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Juuso Riikola replaced Letang on a defense pair with Brian Dumoulin.
What’s next
Islanders: Host the Penguins on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Penguins: At the Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Video: Eberle, Barzal power Islanders past Penguins
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