PITTSBURGH — The game did not lack for energy or entertainment. The Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0) and New York Islanders (0-1-0) engaged in their typical back-and-forth, greasy game, but this uptempo version also ushered in new eras for each team.
Penguins winger Justin Brazeau (3) scored a breakaway goal at 14:21 of the third period for the winner. Evgeni Malkin assisted on the goal for his league-leading fifth point of the season.
Malkin has brought his best at the start of the season.
Early in the first period, Malkin (1) continued his energetic start to the 2025-26 season. After his forecheck created a scoring chance and a sequence that led to a Penguins power play, he swooped to the net and scored his first goal of the season with a stiff backhand past a sprawled Ilya Sorokin.
Penguins rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke, 19, netted his first NHL goal Thursday. As fellow rookie Filip Hallander was caught entering the Islanders’ zone, his deft touch pass kept Brunicke in full stride. From the slot, Brunicke (1) whipped a wrister past Sorokin at 5:41 of the second period.
It was Hallander’s first NHL point and Tommy Novak’s first point since the Penguins acquired him near the 2025 NHL trade deadline in the Michael Bunting trade.
About three minutes later, after some feisty exchanges that first created a 4v4 scenario, then Bo Horvat’s hooking penalty, the Penguins had a 4v3 power play.
Malkin earned his fourth point of the season with a hard snap pass from the low right circle to Sidney Crosby (1), who deflected the shot from one knee at 8:58.
The goal gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead.
However, the Penguins had to rally from a second-period deficit.
Early in the second period, the Islanders took the lead with the most predictable thing in any Penguins-Islanders contest. Kyle Palmieri (1) beat Tristan Jarry from the right circle at 4:04 of the second. Death, taxes, and a Palmieri goal against the Penguins gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
Late in the first period, the Islanders tied the game with a little love from the hockey gods. Jonathan Drouin (1) fanned on a one-timer, but the puck fluttered through traffic, arcing past Jarry at 12:02 of the first. to tie the game 1-1.
Late in the second period, the Penguins’ sloppiness cost them dearly. Anthony Mantha’s blind backhand pass in the neutral zone quickly became an Islanders counterattack. Simon Holmstrom slipped a cross-ice pass to an uncovered Maxim Shabanov (1), who sniped his first NHL goal at 19:19, to tie the game 3-3.
The Penguins scored the only goal of the third period.
Jarry stopped 35 of 38 shots for the win, including a breakaway in the final seconds. Sorokin stopped 24 of 28 before being pulled during a late Islanders power play.
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