from Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

For large chunks of this season, Sidney Crosby’s line did the heavy lifting for the Pittsburgh Penguins while Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel were mired in long slumps.

In the playoff opener Wednesday night on Long Island, the opposite was true.

Malkin and Kessel scored goals and their lines drove play at even strength. Crosby and linemates Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust combined for three shots on goal and spent way more time in the defensive zone than they’re accustomed to.

In the end, the New York Islanders came away with a 4-3 overtime victory.

“You gotta learn from it,” Crosby said. “Regardless of the outcome, you’ve got to learn every game and get better with every game. We’ll learn from this one and make sure that we’re better in Game 2.”

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Game highlights are below.