UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- He's a pretty special young player, this John Tavares.

Scored one goal and set up another in his first game in the National Hockey League, and pretty much made everyone in the sellout crowd of 16,234 -- as well as everyone on both teams -- pay attention every time he went over the boards at Nassau Coliseum last night.

But as good as Tavares was in the Penguins' 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Islanders -- and as good as he will be for many years -- he learned last night just how high the bar of excellence can be set in this game.

Sidney Crosby showed him.

Crosby scored the Penguins' first goal, assisted on their second, then netted the shootout-clinching one that allowed them to get off to a 2-0 start in their defense of the Stanley Cup.

In the process, Crosby recorded his 400th career point, a milestone he reached in 292 games. That's faster than anyone in league history except Wayne Gretzky (197), Mario Lemieux (240), Peter Stastny (247), Eric Lindros (277) and Mike Bossy (283).

So even though Crosby insisted he was not trying to make a point to Tavares, he did. Emphatically.

"Clearly, [Tavares] is a dangerous player out there and a talented player," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "He had a goal and an assist, and he could have had some more points, as well.

"I don't think [he] set out to set the bar for Tavares tonight. But I think from the midpoint of the game on, Sid did set the bar for us."

Someone had to after the Penguins sputtered through much of the opening two periods, as New York carried the play a significant amount of the time while building a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

"The first two periods, we let them play the way they wanted to," winger Pascal Dupuis said. "They took it to us. But, in the third, I think we played our game, and we got the result."

Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first, when he broke down the right side and, after pulling in a lead pass from Ruslan Fedotenko, cut to the net and put a shot between the legs of Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Mark Streit countered for New York at 12:40, scoring on a five-on-three power play created when Evgeni Malkin and Jay McKee picked up penalties for trying to retaliate for a hard hit by Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt on Fedotenko.

Tavares put New York in front, 2-1, at 7:09 of the second by flipping a shot past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the left side of the net as New York controlled play much of the time.

"The first two periods were definitely not our best," defenseman Mark Eaton said. "To say the least."

That changed at the start of the third, when the Penguins seized control and kept play in the New York end. Their work paid off when an Eaton shot hit a defender on the way to the net and eluded Roloson at 7:19, but Trent Hunter put New York back on top, 3-2, just 17 seconds later.

Fedotenko forced overtime when his shot from the right side of the crease hit the skate of New York defenseman Bruno Gervais and skidded into the net at 16:11.

Neither team scored in overtime -- thanks in part to a sensational save by Fleury on former Penguins prospect Matt Moulson at 1:29 -- and that forced the shootout.

After Islanders forward Jeff Tambellini hit the right post, Kris Letang scored to put the Penguins on top. Tavares then missed the net on his chance, but Crosby did not, burying the puck behind Roloson to end the game.

At that point, it clearly did not matter that Tavares was on the other bench. Crosby was focused solely on securing a couple of points for his team.

"I don't think it matters who we're playing against," Eaton said. "Sid is one of the most competitive guys out there."

Tavares looks to be, as well.

"He's got really good hands," Dupuis said. "He's good one-on-one."

Not quite good enough to be a difference-maker on this night, though. Crosby was, which is why the Penguins have gotten the good start they were hoping for.

"The first two games of the season, back-to-back, we're 2-0," Dupuis said. "Not bad."

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