Romanov produced an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Saturday's 6-3 win over the Penguins.

By trading Nelson and Palmieri, the Islanders would finally acknowledge that this core no longer has what it takes to contend.

It's the holiday break, and the Islanders are stuck at the bottom of the Metro and have given us some lessons about who they are.

The New York Islanders (14-15-7) dug deep and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins (16-16-5) 6-3 on Saturday Night in UBS Arena. Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee scored two goals each, leading New York past the recently hot Penguins.

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby reached 1,034 NHL assists, passing Mario Lemieux for the most in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Bo Horvat had two goals and an assist, Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal and the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Saturday night.

The New York Islanders and New York Rangers have been involved in four of the last five conference finals. Both teams have made the playoffs in the previous two seasons. They have two of the top 10 goalies in the league, a handful of high-end players, high-profile coaches and general managers.

The New York Islanders return from the holiday break a mess. Their Dec. 23 must-win game against the hapless Buffalo Sabres ended in a 7-1 loss. At 13-15-7, the Islanders have the worst record in the Metropolitan Division and the fourth-worst in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders looked more like the team we saw against Toronto than the one that came out flat against Buffalo.

The New York Islanders turned in another disappointing outing as they went down 3-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Coach Patrick Roy was particularly distraught with how his team handled pressure.