By Canadian Press

Islanders top Penguins 4-1 to take 3-0 series lead

Apr 14, 2019 | 1:28 PM

PITTSBURGH — The New York Islanders are on the cusp of just their second playoff series win in more than a quarter-century.

Jordan Eberle scored for the third straight game, Robin Lehner stopped 25 shots and the Islanders rolled to a 4-1 victory over the stunned Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday to take a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

Brock Nelson added his second goal of the playoffs and Leo Komarov scored the first post-season goal of his career for the Islanders, who have pushed the star-laden Penguins to the brink of elimination.

Garrett Wilson scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal, a first-period deflection past Lehner that gave the Penguins just their second lead of the series.

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It didn’t last. Eberle tied it 28 seconds later and Nelson’s wrist shot put New York in front to stay just 1:02 after Eberle’s third playoff goal in as many games.

Komarov’s third-period goal gave the Islanders more than enough breathing room, and Anders Lee put the Penguins away with an empty-net goal with 1:28 remaining.

Matt Murray finished with 32 saves for the Penguins, but Pittsburgh again struggled to generate any sort of offensive momentum against the Islanders. New York, which allowed an NHL-low 196 goals during the regular season, has surrendered just five in three games.

Pittsburgh needs a win in Game 4 on Tuesday to avoid being swept for the first time since the 2013 Eastern Conference finals against Boston.

If the Islanders felt any pressure while taking their first 2-0 post-season lead since the 1983 Stanley Cup final — when they completed their run of four straight championships by sweeping Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers — it didn’t show. Just as it did back home on Long Island, New York didn’t back down against the star-studded Penguins.

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan downplayed the idea his team was “desperate” while facing a 2-0 deficit for the first time in his highly successful tenure. He still opted to tinker with his lines in search of a spark, elevating Dominik Simon to the top line alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel and putting Jared McCann — who sat out Game 2 with a lower-body injury — on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.

Oddly, it was the fourth line that gave the Penguins an early lift when Garrett Wilson redirected a shot from the point by Marcus Pettersson past Lehner 12:54 into the first.

Yet the Islanders responded immediately. Eberle collected a pass from Ryan Pulock just above the goal line and flipped a shot short side over Murray’s right shoulder to tie it at 13:22. All of 62 seconds later, the Islanders were in front again when Nelson finished off a 2-on-1 by zipping the puck over Murray’s right arm.

Lehner made sure it was enough. Always seemingly in the right position, the 27-year-old never looked rattled. At one point he head-butted a loose puck out of danger, and New York’s aggressive forecheck and responsible play in its own end made sure he didn’t have to work too hard.

When Komarov’s score 10:27 into the third extended the lead to two, the Islanders were firmly in control and Pittsburgh’s post-season appearance inched closer to being the shortest of its 13-year run.

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Will Graves, The Associated Press