Coliseum magic eludes Islanders in shootout loss to Penguins

One after another, Ryan Pulock fired off his mammoth slap shot. It was five shot attempts total — three of them blocked, one wide, one on goal. Each time the Islanders defenseman drew his blade back, the announced sellout crowd of 13,917 jammed into the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike drew its breath, and then exhaled in frustration.

So the four-on-three power play in overtime went for naught, and the Islanders couldn’t get it done in the shootout either, losing to the Penguins, 2-1, on Monday night at the Coliseum.

“We want to win, every night,” Pulock said. “The point is big, but we want two.”

This was the second game back at the original suburban home for the Islanders (14-11-3), who made their return Dec. 1, and whose fans tried to match the energy on this winter weekday night. Despite all of the chippy plays, the shoves and the cross-checks that arise in what has become the Isles’ most bitter rivalry, the Penguins (13-10-6) still managed to win when Jake Guentzel beat goalie Robin Lehner in the fifth round of the skills competition.

In a game that was tight, although not terribly well-played, it was impossible not to look back on all those bombs from Pulock that struggled to get through. Bryan Rust blocked the first, Pulock missed wide on the next, then he got a 44-footer on net that was one of Casey DeSmith’s 25 saves, and then Zach Aston-Reese blocked two more before the tripping penalty on Derick Brassard expired.

Maybe Pulock could have faked one, but ultimately the Islanders got the looks they wanted — just not the result.

“We want to use his biggest asset,” coach Barry Trotz said. “Ideally, in a perfect world, we have to take what they give us. If they take him away, then we have to do something else. He was trying to get it through, for sure. There were a couple that hit their guys, hit our guys. I don’t mind him blasting away. I’ve had a couple pretty exceptional defensemen that can shoot the puck. They’ll go through.”

Although there were a couple noticeably empty seats, the fans still got boisterous in the third period, when the 1-0 lead given by Anthony Beauvillier’s second-period goal was neutralized by Brassard’s jam-shot at 2:13, making it 1-1. The shenanigans escalated when defenseman Thomas Hickey was hit in the head with a Evgeni Malkin slap shot with 7:31 left in regulation — Hickey would leave and soon return — and while play was stopped, Cal Clutterbuck gave a quick shot to Kris Letang, who then cross-checked Clutterbuck in the face.

The Islanders’ rugged winger went down to the ice in a heap and did not return to the game, but he and Letang received offsetting minors. That got the fans upset, and it was easy to remember why this used to be such a difficult place to play.

“It’s so fun to play here. They were loud for a Monday night,” Trotz said. “It’s a great atmosphere in this building and it really helps us.”

The Islanders have continued to surprise people with how competitive they are, and with 19 more home games here at the Coliseum — although not the Barclays Center match against the Golden Knights on Wednesday night — there could be an emotional boon waiting for a team that has its sights set on a postseason berth.

“We love this place, and I think a lot of people love it too,” captain Anders Lee said. “We’re going to need that kind of atmosphere going down the stretch, because we feed off the crowd.”

Yet there was nothing the fans could do to help the Islanders power play, which went 0-for-4 on the night and is now 1-for-27 in the past 11 games. All those shots for Pulock, and he couldn’t even get the Penguins to get out of their structure.

“They did a pretty good job, obviously, in the middle,” Pulock said. “Just tried to take a couple shots to maybe pull them up on me and open some space for other guys down low. We weren’t able to do it.”