UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins invariably play entertaining games at Nassau Coliseum. Just as predictable is the visiting team emerging with a victory. Rookie defenceman Olli Maatta scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and Evgeni Malkin added an insurance score in the third as the Penguins rallied from an early deficit and held on for a wild 6-4 win over the Islanders on Thursday night. The Islanders had a 5-on-3 power play for 50 seconds late in the third, but couldnt score against backup Jeff Zatkoff, who made 30 saves for the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins (36-13-2). Pittsburgh improved to 17-5 against Metropolitan Division opponents. Zatkoff (8-2-1) stopped Frans Nielsen point-blank during the power-play and denied John Tavares, second in the league in scoring to Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby, with a shoulder save in the closing seconds. "Jeff hung in there and was strong when he had to be," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of his goaltender. "He made that huge late save and showed fortitude -- as we all did -- to stay with it tonight." Brandon Sutter scored an empty-net goal for the Penguins, who trailed 2-0 early and also got goals from Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang. Michael Grabner, Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo had goals for the Islanders. Maatta scored his fifth of the season at 5:35 of the middle period to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead when the 19-year-old Finnish defenceman skated through the Islanders defence before sliding a backhand past Kevin Poulin. Letang scored at 17:44 after the Penguins league-best power-play unit kept the puck in the Islanders zone for nearly an entire man advantage. After hitting the post, Letang blasted the puck past Poulin for this 10th goal of the season to give Pittsburgh a two-goal cushion. Bailey pulled the Islanders within a goal at 4-3 at 3:10 of the third when he beat Zatkoff on a breakaway. The goal came after Matt Martin of the Islanders fought Pittsburghs Tanner Glass. But Malkin slapped a perfect cross-ice pass from James Neal past Poulin at 5:59 for this 14th goal. Malkin has points in 24 of 27 games since Nov. 1, with 11 goals and 30 assists during the stretch. "The emotion was there for both teams tonight as it always seems to be when we play the Islanders," Crosby said. "We found a way to stay strong and make key plays at the right times." Okposo received credit for a goal at 10:55 of the third to make it 5-4 after the puck crossed the goal line in a scrum in front of Zatkoff. The play was reviewed and the goal awarded, the 21st for Okposo. Sutter scored an empty-net goal for the Penguins at 19:56 to conclude the scoring. The Islanders surprised the Penguins with two quick first-period goals before the visitors answered with a pair of their own in the latter half of the period. Grabner whipped a loose puck past Zatkoff at 1:39. Then, Grabner set up Nelson at 8:21 to make it 2-0. Kunitz answered for the Penguins at 9:32 with a slap shot from the top of left circle past Poulin. Crosby and Maatta assisted on the 25th goal of the season for Kunitz, who will join Crosby on Team Canada at the Winter Games in Sochi next month. Then, Crosby tied it at 11:24 with his 27th goal of the season when he jammed a rebound past Poulin. "They play an aggressive style and they create opportunities," added Crosby, who also had two assists and leads the league with 72 points. "We were able to create some of our own and hold them off when we had to." The Penguins entered 26-2-1 when scoring first and 9-11-1 when they didnt. This time, they found a way to recover and overcome the Islanders (21-25-7). New York has been on a torrid streak that pulled them from a 9-19-7 record after a shootout loss to Tampa Bay on Dec. 17 within five points of a playoff spot before meeting the Penguins. The Islanders lost for just the fourth time in 14 games. "Again, it was about our battle level or the lack of it," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We have to defend harder. You cant give a team with as much firepower as the Penguins all that time and space. We got away from how we have to play for about 10 minutes and it cost us." The three previous Islanders-Penguins games this season were decided by one goal. The teams split two games in Pittsburgh before Crosby capped a Penguins comeback with an overtime goal at the Coliseum on Dec. 3. Pittsburgh is 7-1-1 over its last nine and 15-3-1 in its last 19 contests. The Penguins have also won seven of their last eight regular-season games against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. The Penguins defeated the Islanders in a six-game first-round playoff series last May. NOTES: Crosby has 25 goals and 58 assists in 45 regular-season games against the Islanders, including 11 goals and 24 assists in 21 games at Nassau Coliseum. ... The Penguins are 11-1 in their last 12 division games. The only loss was a 2-1 setback against the Devils in Newark on Dec. 31. The Penguins are 13-4-2 in their last 19 games at Nassau Coliseum. ... The Islanders continued to be without D Travis Hamonic (upper body). ... Brazil Jersey . ANDREWS -- Stacy Lewis felt such a spiritual connection with St. R... World Cup Jersey . His competitive career, too. The Russian star retired Thursday just after he withdrew from the mens event at the Sochi Olympics for medical reasons. htt... . The 23-year-old is in his second NFL season, having bounced around the league last year. He played in four games with Detroit, recording seven tackles and defending one pass, but also spent time with Baltimore and New England. [url=http://www.brazilsoccerteamstore.com/World-Cup-Oscar-Brazil-Jersey.html]Osc... World Cup Jersey . -- Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor will miss Sundays game in Houston because of a sprained right knee. B... World Cup Jersey . Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins announced Tuesday that Yakupov will resume skating later this week. (Sports Network) - The Toronto Blue Jays send 22-year old Henderson Alvarez to the mound against the Texas Rangers in Saturdays second game of a three-game set. Alvarez is enjoying a fine sophomore season with a 3.30 ERA but he is coming off back-to-back losses, including a nine-hit, six-earned run let down in a 6-5 loss to the Mets on Sunday. Alvarez lasted just five innings, snapping a streak of 16 straight starts with at least six innings pitched. Alvarez has never faced the potent Rangers lineup before, though he has been lights-out away from Rogers Centre this year, going 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA while allowing just 18 hits in 23 innings. Last night, the Rangers offence came out firing from the start, putting up six runs in the bottom of the first inning, and ultimately cruised to an easy 14-3 win. Hoping for that same type of run support tonight, Texas will send Colby Lewis to the mound. After starting May with three straight losses while giving up 14 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings, Lewis got back on track in the Rangers 6-1 interleague win over rival Houston on May 20. Lewis was spectacular in his fourth win of the season, going eight strong innings and striking out six while allowing just four hits, one walk, and one earned run. The right-hander also took advantage of his at-bats in the National League park, helping his cause with two hits and a pair of RBI. "Things didnt go my way in the last couple of starts, so I just wanted to bounce back and go deep into the game," Lewis said of his performance. Lewis hopes to build on his success this afternoon in Arlington, where he has dominated in four starts this season with a 2-1 record and a 1.dddddddddddd85 ERA, but he has not seen much success against the Blue Jays in his career, as he is just 3-4 with a bloated 7.43 ERA in eight career games against Toronto. In Saturday nights rout, Nelson Cruz went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and matched a career-high with eight RBI. Cruz got things started in the first inning with a three-run double, then followed that up with an RBI single in the sixth, and capped his night off with the slam in the seventh. Josh Hamilton continued his MVP-like campaign with his major league-leading 19th home run of the season, snapping a streak of 11 games without a long ball. Every player in the Rangers starting lineup reached base safely on Friday night, while five different players recorded multi-hit games. Derek Holland (4-3) was given more than enough run support to earn the win, allowing two runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings while striking out a season- high nine. Edwin Encarnacion went 2-fo-4 with a home run for the Blue Jays, who have now lost three in a row. The homer for Encarnacion was his 15th of the season, second to only Hamilton in the American League. It was a rough outing for Toronto starter Brandon Morrow, whos otherwise had a great season. The right-hander pitched just two-thirds of an inning - the shortest outing of his career - allowing five hits, three walks, and six earned runs. Even with the bad outing, Morrows ERA hovers at a respectable 3.47. ' ' '