Game three between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins featured nine goals, a raucous Nassau Coliseum crowd, and a whole lot of rough stuff.
In their first home playoff game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the boys in blue and orange looked to go up 2-1 and put Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in an uncomfortable game four situation on Saturday.
But like all regular season, the Isles chased the Pens, who held a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. The Islanders notched two goals and tied the game on the power-play, which looked much better on Thursday night. Each team exchanged goals until New York found themselves down and ran out of time. Pittsburgh took game three 5-4 and leads the series 2-1.
Jeff Carter had two goals, and Brandon Tanev notched the game-winner for the Pens. Scott Mayfield played the game of his life and joined Cal Clutterbuck and Anthony Beauvillier as the goal scorers for New York. Mathew Barzal had two assists, and Kris Letang finished with three points.
Overall, New York did show life but did not look great by any stretch. Game four is essentially a must-win game if they want to keep their season alive. With the series on the line, will the Islanders show us their best game? Will Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock wake up? Will Noah Dobson and Scott Mayfield still need to carry the defensive load? Will Semyon Varlamov stop a puck? Will we see Ilya Sorokin again? These questions will be answered on Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern Time at the Nassau Coliseum.
