Cizikas, Lee each scores twice to lift Islanders past Penguins

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee each scored two goals, and the New York Islanders won 6-3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair scored, and Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov each had two assists for the Islanders (14-15-7), who have won two of their past three games. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

“Those are hard games, hard-fought games,” Cizikas said. “You know what needs to be done, night in and night out. We didn't veer away from [our game]. We accepted the challenge at hand, and the way our group played in the third period, there's a lot of good things to take away from that.”

Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist, and Michael Bunting and Noel Acciari scored for the Penguins (16-16-5), who have lost two of their past three games. Tristan Jarry made 29 saves.

“I don't think we played as smart. We just didn't play a conscientious game like the game we've been playing for the last six weeks,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I just think our decisions with the puck weren't where they needed to be. We didn't play straight ahead. We talked about playing simple before the game, just the importance of simplicity and playing straight ahead. I just don't think we did it well enough.”

The teams will play the second game of a home-and-home at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Brock Nelson scored at 4:51 of the first period, but the Penguins challenged the play for goaltender interference, and a video review determined that Duclair bumped into Jarry before the puck went in.

Pageau did give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 14:47 of the first period. After he won an offensive-zone face-off, he skated toward the left post, where Barzal found him with a backdoor pass.

Bunting tied the game 1-1 at 16:03 of the first, scoring a power-play goal after getting to a loose puck inside the right circle.

Duclair gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 5:39 of the second period. Kyle Palmieri collected the puck just inside the Penguins’ zone before finding Duclair cutting toward the low slot on an odd-man rush.

Lee extended the lead to 3-1 at 8:36. After Lee hit the post, Kris Letang tried to clear the rebound out from behind Jarry but accidentally put the puck into his own net.

“I thought we had a really solid game tonight,” Lee said. “From the get-go it was a pretty good hockey game. I think we got to our game and established that pretty well. We obviously made some great plays to get some goals. I think that was important, and I think we played the right way in the third period.”

Cizikas pushed it to 4-1 when he redirected Romanov's pass from the low slot over Jarry’s glove at 9:39.

Acciari cut the lead to 4-2 at 13:49, three seconds after a power play expired. He poked the puck over the goal line after it came loose to Sorokin’s right following an attempted save.

Rakell got the Penguins to within 4-3 with 2.7 seconds remaining in the period, deflecting Matt Grzelcyk's shot from the high slot under Sorokin’s glove.

Cizikas scored his second of the game at 14:43 of the third period to make it 5-3. He beat Jarry glove side on a breakaway after Simon Holmstrom sprung him with a pass from the defensive zone.

“We got to do a better job controlling the puck, helping each other out, and winning the net from on both sides of the ice,” Rakell said. “We didn't get the job done today. Not good enough.”

Lee scored his second of the game into an empty net with 22 seconds remaining for the 6-3 final.

“It was a good win for us. I thought we had some jump. We were quick on them,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “I thought we played well. We played a strong game as a team. We played 60 minutes. [There’s] a lot of talent on the other side. So we were able to keep them under 25 shots? I thought that was a good defensive game.”

NOTES: Duclair has earned a point in three straight games (one goal, two assists) since returning from a 28-game absence due to a lower-body injury. … Barzal recorded his first 5-on-5 point of the season. … Rakell has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games. … Bunting has three goals in his past two games.