Penguins/Islanders Recap: Pens chase Sorokin, demolish Islanders 8-3
ELMONT, NEW YORK - MARCH 30: Ilya Sorokin #30 of the New York Islanders reacts to a goal by Rickard Rakell #67 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:54 of the third period at UBS Arena on March 30, 2026 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images Pregame There are lots of moving parts for the Penguins, who are using three different lines for tonight. The happiest change is that Sidney Crosby is able to return and Bryan Rust shrugs off his maintenance day yesterday to play too.
Rickard Rakell stays at center for the second game in a row, this time between the ‘big’ winger duo of Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau. Tommy Novak slides to the wing for the first time in a while, joined by Ben Kindel and Avery Hayes. Arturs Silovs gets the start in net.
How we're lining up against the Islanders ⬇️ pic. twitter. com/bFON8jETlL — Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 30, 2026 First period Both teams play a little tight and tense at first.
The Islanders get the puck down low and try to jam it in, nearly doing so a couple times. On the other end of the ice, Erik Karlsson shoots a puck off Ilya Sorokin’s stick nob and then a Sidney Crosby shot hits the crossbar a little later. The Islanders gain momentum and start stacking up chances.
Adam Pelech shoots from the blueline through plenty of traffic, Silovs doesn’t track the puck but luckily for him it hits the post and stays out. Crosby and Karlsson then hulk up and generate a bunch of chances. Pittsburgh traps some tired Islanders in their d-zone and amps up the pressure to the max by double shifting the first line following an NYI icing call but they can’t quite get it to go.
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