Andy Marlin, Getty Images Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro makes a pad save as the Penguins' Gary Roberts looks for a rebound in last night's game at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Penguins Notebook: Slumping Recchi won't panic

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When the stakes get this high, it's a safe bet that emotions and elbows will follow.

Pit a team that's battling for playoff seeding against one fighting for professional survival, and the result looks a lot like two wolverines with bad attitudes being forced to share a cage for 60 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, they were a lot better at generating intensity than goals during what became a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum last night, although Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro had a lot to do with that.

He stopped 35 Penguins shots, denied Evgeni Malkin on his first NHL penalty shot and pretty much pulled his team out of a 1-4-2 slide that had threatened to squeeze the significance out of New York's remaining games.

"He made the saves when he had to," Penguins right winger Mark Recchi said.

Of course, it did not help the Penguins that they failed to capitalize on numerous second chances and were 0 for 6 on the power play.

"He made some good saves, and we also weren't able to put in a bunch of pucks that were laying behind him or laying around him," center Sidney Crosby said.

New York's victory kept it on the cusp of the Eastern Conference playoff field while the Penguins, who have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Feb. 25-27, remained two points behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division and fell four behind Ottawa in the race for fourth in the East.

Their magic number for clinching their first playoff berth since 2001 remains eight, which means they can wrap up a berth by playing .500 in their final eight games.

Referees Dan Marouelli and Mike Hasenfratz handed out 28 minutes worth of penalties, but likely could have tripled that total if they had been so inclined. Both teams were willing to sneak in every shot -- legal or otherwise, before or after the whistle -- they thought they could get away with.

"There was more stuff after the whistle than in any other game we've had for a while," Penguins right winger Colby Armstrong said. "We knew it was going to be a heated game."

The Penguins got off to an ominous start -- they gave up an odd-man break about 10 seconds after the opening faceoff -- but scored the only goal of the first period when Armstrong got his 11th at 16:55.

The scoring sequence began when the Penguins forced a turnover at the red line. Gary Roberts then carried the puck down the left side before throwing it into the slot to Armstrong, who flipped it past DiPietro.

New York got that goal back during a man-advantage of its own at 2:37 of the second, as Trent Hunter wristed a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the slot 51 seconds after Roberts was sent off for hooking.

DiPietro preserved the tie with a quality save four minutes into the period, when he stopped Malkin after a Crosby lead pass sprung him behind the New York defense, and his teammates rewarded him with what proved to be the winner little more than a minute later when Jason Blake scored from above the left hash at 5:12.

Malkin had a chance to pull the Penguins even when he was awarded a penalty shot at 6:26 after Islanders defenseman Tom Poti knocked his feet out from under him as Malkin broke in alone down the right side.

DiPietro, though, was able to get a piece of Malkin's shot on the penalty shot, then covered the puck before it skidded across the goal line.

The Penguins had a five-on-three power play for 37 seconds as the middle of the period approached, and nearly took advantage, but Sergei Gonchar's slap shot from the left point slammed off the right goalpost after getting by DiPietro.

"There's no doubt that when you have a team in that position and games are tight, it makes a big difference if you can capitalize," Crosby said. "We didn't do that."

Viktor Kozlov gave New York an insurance goal 102 seconds into the third period, and DiPietro continued to frustrate the Penguins, who have managed just one goal in each of their past two games.

That hardly qualifies as a crisis -- "We know we can score goals," Recchi said -- but they'll want to rectify it soon. Just as they'll want to get used to playing games where both the stakes and the sticks are high.

"We're approaching the playoffs, so every game is going to be that type," center Maxime Talbot said. "It's like that in the playoffs, and we have to expect that."