Islanders win puts penguins on the ropes

The New york Islanders are on the cusp of just their second playoff series win in more than a quarter-century. Jordan Eberle scored for the third straight game, robin Lehner stopped 25 shots and the Islanders rolled to a 4-1 victory over the stunned Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday to take a 3-0 lead in their bestof-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final. Brock Nelson added his second goal of the playoffs and Leo Komarov scored the first post-season goal of his career for the Islanders, who have pushed the star-laden Penguins to the brink of elimination. Matt Murray finished with 32 saves for the Penguins, but Pittsburgh again struggled to generate any sort of offensive momentum against the Islanders. New york, which allowed an Nhl-low 196 goals during the regular season, has surrendered five in three playoff games.

GENE J. PUSKAR /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Penguins forward Phil Kessel can’t get a shot past Islanders goalie Robin Lehner with New York’s Ryan Pulock defending in Sunday’s Game 3 of the teams’ first-round playoff series. The Islanders have a 3-0 stranglehold on the series.