93.7 The Fan (PITTSBURGH) - Kris Letang became the first defenseman to record five points in a single period, as the Pens blanked the Islanders 7-0.
Letang recorded all five points by way of the assist, which also tied a record. He joined Dale Hawerchuk as just the second player in league history to record five assists in a single period, according to Penguins PR.
"It was one of those nights where it seemed like everybody seemed to score every time I got it to them, it was one of those nights," said Letang.
The scoring opened up with controversy, after a slapshot from Marcus Pettersson trickled past Ilya Sorokin, Rickard Rakell saw the puck sitting in the crease and he shot it in. The ref blew the play dead thinking Sorokin froze it, but after video review the goal was good. It would be the first of four points for Pettersson, a career high for him. Pittsburgh would go on to score six goals in the period.
Jake Guentzel scored back-to-back goals in a span of just 12 seconds. He had three points in the period. Then it was Evgeni Malkin scoring back-to-back goals in a four minute stretch. Radim Zohorna capped it off with his fourth goal of the season making it 6-0 after two periods.
"I thought the second period we did a much better job just controlling territory, establishing some offensive zone time," said Mike Sullivan. "I think a lot of it starts in the neutral zone when we make good decisions with the puck and I thought our guys did a real good job and I think that goes a long way to set the game up the way we want to play it."
In the third period, Valtteri Puustinen scored his first NHL goal and Letang tallied yet another assist, his sixth of the game.
Tristan Jarry returned to the net after having the last three games off. He recorded his fourth shutout of the season after making 22 saves.
"Just working with Andy (Chiodo) really helps for the past week that I wasn't playing," said Jarry. "Ned was doing a great job, he was getting us lots of points and I think that when we have both goalies doing that, I think that it's great for our team, it's great for the teams success, I think that puts us in a good spot."