UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Sidney Crosby's nose injury did not require stitches. The same can't be said of the Penguins' recent performance.
Crosby missed part of the second period after taking a puck to the face as the Penguins were again surprised by the Islanders, this time in a 5-3 setback at Nassau Coliseum.
The Penguins have lost consecutive games to the Islanders and trail the New York Rangers by five points for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Each team has five games remaining, and the Penguins will host the Rangers on April 5.
Barring a Rangers' collapse, the Penguins now appear a very strong bet to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers.
"The standings will be the standings," center Jordan Staal said. "We want to win games. Right now, we're not playing our best hockey, and we're losing games. It's something we need to address."
Crosby was held scoreless for a second straight game and left the ice at the 1:43 mark of the second period. While skating toward the left corner in New York territory early in the second period, Crosby was struck in the nose by defenseman Dylan Reese's clearing attempt. Reese, an Upper St. Clair native, was about 10 feet away from Crosby when he launched a clearing attempt that struck the Penguins' captain in the face.
Crosby has a large welt on the left side of his nose.
"We didn't do a lot of good things," Crosby said. "We paid for it again. We made some mistakes, and they capitalized on it."
The Penguins were hungry to play better defensively following a multitude of high-scoring games in recent weeks. They didn't succeed, and perhaps in paying so much attention to defense, were unable to generate their normal offensive attack.
"It was a bit better," said Crosby of his team's defensive work. "But we didn't produce enough offensively. It's still something to work on."
Again, the Penguins made numerous mistakes, something that hasn't been a characteristic all season.
They allowed a short-handed breakaway goal and were guilty of many turnovers.
"I didn't see a lot of response," coach Dan Bylsma said.
The Penguins have now permitted 25 goals in their past six games. Bylsma pointed out before the game that he isn't concerned about his team's play in its territory, but rather, believes puck management issues are to blame for his team's bloated goals against totals in recent games.
Again those problems were very much on display.
(c)2012 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) Distributed by MCT Information Services
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