NEW YORK -- The last player to greet goalie Matthew Murray in the postgame handshake line for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon was center Oskar Sundqvist.

It was an appropriate meeting of the two rookies whose milestone firsts helped send the Pittsburgh Penguins to a familiar destination.

Murray recorded 24 saves in his first career shutout and Sundqvist's first NHL goal provided the only offense the Penguins needed as they clinched a playoff berth with their fifth straight win, a 5-0 blanking of the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.

"We had a couple milestones tonight," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "You can see how the rest of our guys responded and rallied around those guys. It's really neat to see."

Murray and Sundqvist were born two months apart in 1994, which means the Penguins have been annual Stanley Cup contenders for nearly half their lives. Pittsburgh clinched its 10th straight trip to the playoffs -- the second-longest active streak in the NHL behind the Detroit Red Wings, who have made the playoffs in 25 consecutive seasons but are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference.

"It was awesome -- we're pretty good buddies and we're actually roommates here on the road," Murray said. "So it's pretty special to be able to share something like that with a guy that you're so close with. It makes it that much more enjoyable."

This playoff trip might have been the hardest one to earn for the Penguins, who fired coach Mike Johnston following a 15-10-3 start. But Pittsburgh is 30-15-5 under Sullivan, including 11-1-0 in its last 12 games.

"There's always times when you know it's going to be an uphill climb," said Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who recorded his 600th career assist Saturday. "I don't think anyone expected to put as many (wins) together as we have here down the stretch. But we worked hard. We've earned it. (They need to) continue to play the same way that's gotten us this success to this point."

The Penguins may need Murray to continue playing the same way he did Saturday. Murray made his ninth career start when starter Marc-Andre Fleury was diagnosed with his second concussion of the season Friday. He missed eight games in December.

Murray certainly has the confidence required for a bigger role.

"No, no, no, no," Murray said when asked if he had any reservations about possibly serving as the starter going forward. "That's what you want as a goalie. You kind of want to be the go-to guy. Personally, I really don't like sitting on the bench, especially for long periods of time.

"So this is a great opportunity for me and I'm very excited about it."

The Islanders mounted their most serious threat against Murray in the first, when a power play shot by Kyle Okposo bounced off the right post a little more than eight minutes in. The Penguins scored just seconds later, when a clearing pass by goalie Jean-Francois Berube (28 saves) sailed by an inattentive Nick Leddy and right to Sundqvist, who fired it home for the rare unassisted shorthanded goal.

"It's always great to get the first goal," said Sundqvist, who appeared in his 14th NHL game. "I didn't really see it go in at first, so it took a little time for me to react. It's kind of hard to describe the feeling when you see it go in."

Peter Hornqvist scored a power play goal to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead 8:09 into the second, after which the Islanders grew increasingly sloppy. Matt Cullen scored Pittsburgh's third goal following a turnover by New York defenseman Calvin De Haan.

Phil Kessel made it 4-0 just beyond the midway point of the third after a turnover in the Pittsburgh zone while Tom Kuhnhackl capped the scoring with 4:59 remaining when he pounced on a loose puck in the Islanders' goalmouth.

"An embarrassment and totally unacceptable for this time or any time of the year," Islanders center and captain John Tavares said.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Islanders (42-26-9), who lead the Eastern Conference wild card race by two points over the second wild card, the Philadelphia Flyers. They are four points ahead of the Red Wings pending Detroit's game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It should not happen this time of year," Islanders center Frans Nielsen said. "I guess you can say I'm a little worried."

NOTES: In addition to G Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins scratched D Olli Maatta (lower body) and RW Bryan Rust (lower body) as well as Derrick Pouliot. Fleury will be re-evaluated Monday. ... Penguins C Sidney Crosby, who was named the NHL's first star for March on Friday, earned another honor Saturday, when the team named him its Most Valuable Player. ... The Islanders scratched C Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) and D Travis Hamonic (lower body) as well as RW Steve Bernier, LW Eric Boulton and D Ryan Pulock. ... Hamonic will miss the final six games of the regular season after suffering what is believed to be a right knee injury Thursday. He missed the regular season finale and each of the Islanders' seven playoff games last year with a left knee injury.