All the stars were out between the Islanders and Penguins, but it was Sidney Crosby who wound up with the game-winner as the Pens came away with a 4-3 win.
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period thanks to two power-play goals from Chris Kunitz. Vanek cut the Pens lead to 2-1 early in the second, but Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal in 15 games to give the Pens a 3-1 lead.
Things got ugly for the Penguins, however, as turnovers led to goals from Colin McDonald and Vanek’s second that tied it at 3-3.
Late in the third, Sidney Crosby would crush the Isles dreams of coming away with a comeback win in Pittsburgh when he scored his 12th goal of the season with 1:26 left in the game.
On the upside for the Islanders, Vanek’s return was clearly a good thing. He was playing for the first time since missing five games with an upper-body injury. The lesson learned here though is that if you let the Penguins’ best players score goals, you’re probably not going to fare well.