National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 6, NY Islanders 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 6, 2018
Where: PPG PAINTS Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees: Francis Charron, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Kiel Murchison
Attendance: 18440

Kris Letang and Phil Kessel each scored twice Thursday as the Pittsburgh Penguins trounced the visiting New York Islanders 6-2.

Kessel also had two assists, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, Riley Sheahan scored, and Jake Guentzel had three assists for Pittsburgh, which won its second straight and fourth in six games.

Goaltender Casey DeSmith made 22 saves for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh winger Patric Hornqvist, coming off a hat trick game, did not play after the first period. There was no immediate word on his status.

Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored for New York, which lost its second in a row and is 1-3-1 in its past five.

Thomas Greiss allowed five goals on 21 shots through two periods before yielding to Christopher Gibson, who stopped six of seven Pittsburgh shots.

Letang opened the scoring at 8:34 of the first. From the right point, he started a give-and-go with Derick Brassard deep, moving up to the dot to convert the return from Brassard.

Pittsburgh allowed its league-worst eighth shorthanded goal when Nelson tied it at 17:43 of the first. Former Penguins winger Tom Kuhnhackl fished the puck from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak along the end boards and fed Nelson in the left circle. Nelson skated in on DeSmith and beat him on a poke-check attempt.

Letang struck again with 28.5 seconds left in the first on a slap shot from the center point to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.

Sheahan upped it to 3-1 at 7:21 of the second when he batted an airborne puck past Greiss, a play that withstood a review.

Kessel's power-play goal at 12:09 made it 4-1. He polished off a sharp passing sequence.

At 17:37 of the second period, Kessel got his second goal, slamming home a feed from Crosby at the left post for a 5-1 Pittsburgh lead.

Lee made it 5-2 on a short-range backhanded flip at 4:23 of the third period.

Crosby notched his team-leading 15th goal when he roofed a severe-angle shot at 13:00 of the third.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
NY Islanders   Pittsburgh
Anders Lee 1 Points Phil Kessel 4
Anders Lee 1 Goals Phil Kessel 2
Thomas Hickey 1 Assists Jake Guentzel 3
N/A Power Play Goals Phil Kessel 1
Brock Nelson 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Christopher Gibson .857 Save Percentage Casey DeSmith .917
Thomas Greiss 16 Saves Casey DeSmith 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Islanders 24 2 0-2 2-3 8 25
Pittsburgh 28 6 1-3 2-2 6 32
Upcoming Games
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Penguins have a W/L % of .455 after a win and .438 after a loss.
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Islanders have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .500 after a loss.