Bailey lifts Isles over Pens

After setting a career high for points last season, Josh Bailey is not about to let up.

Bailey scored a shorthanded goal in the second period and then the only goal in a shootout to lift the Islanders over the Penguins, 3-2, on Thursday night.

Thomas Greiss made 29 saves as the Islanders swept the home-and-home set and improved to 5-0-0 against Metropolitan Division rivals. The Islanders and Penguins both have 15 points atop the division.

“It was a good win for us. We had great goaltending and we did a lot of things well,” Bailey said. “They obviously have a really good team over there. Division games always have a little more added to them.”

Anders Lee gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 10:11 of the third with his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Thomas Hickey and Brock Nelson.

Evgeni Malkin tied it, 2-2, with a power-play goal at 12:02. Kris Letang and Phil Kessel assisted on Malkin’s seventh goal, which extended his point streak to nine games.

The Islanders, playing just their fourth home game of the season, were coming off a 6-3 road victory over the Penguins on Tuesday and a three-game division trip with wins also at Washington and Carolina. They are 4-0-1 in their last five games overall.

“It says a lot about everyone putting in the effort and putting in the work,” Lee said. “We are playing good hockey. The commitment level is there.”

Greiss especially kept the Islanders in this one with an acrobatic glove save on Kessel and a breakaway stop on defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in the second period.