Anthony Mantha scored twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins produced a dominant second period and defeated the New York Islanders 8-3, according to the original report.
Pittsburgh erased a 3-1 deficit by scoring five goals in the second period, turning the momentum into a key Metropolitan Division matchup.
Mantha, who now leads the team with 29 goals, also added an assist.
“It means a lot. I had to go through a lot last year. The confidence came in here. No matter what happened, I knew I had more. Here I’m just trying to contribute. And I mean, the guys on this team have supported me, the coaching staff has been behind me from day one, so it’s great to get results as well,” Mantha told NHL.
Rickard Rakell also scored twice, while Bryan Rust had a goal and an assist. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang each contributed two assists.
The Islanders started strong and took a 3-1 lead early in the second period. However, the defensive battle proved costly.
“Defensively we were just terrible,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said.
“[We allowed] guys behind us, breakaways, losing puck battles… midway through that period we were just terrible defensively.”
Penguins coach Dan Muse said his team remained calm despite the deficit.
“At the beginning of the second period we kind of moved away from the things I liked in the first,” he said.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy described the momentum shift as decisive, calling it “a turning point in that game.”
