PITTSBURGH—The Penguins were ready for one comeback in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup playoff series against the New York Islanders.

They got two.

Sidney Crosby, in his first game since a puck to the face on March 30 broke his jaw and knocked out a few teeth, had two goals in the first 7:22. The first put his team up 2-0, and the second made it 3-1. It was, as often is the case when he plays hockey, impressive. From a personal production standpoint, nothing had changed.

After Crosby's second goal—and before it, really, considering how lopsided shot data was from the start of the game—the Penguins underwent a less-welcome, team-wide reversion to form. They were taking bad penalties. They were struggling in their own zone—and spending far too much time there. Their goalie wasn't good enough at the worst possible time. And they lost, 4-3.

Make some tweaks—some orange jerseys here, Jaroslav Halak there—and they could've been playing the Philadelphia Flyers, or Tampa Bay Lightning, or Montreal Canadiens.

Those are the Penguins' last three postseason opponents.

They eliminated none.

The circumstances of those three series are different, but the results were the same—shooting white balls instead of black pucks in the middle of May. Game 2s, coincidentally or not, are a particular problem; the Penguins haven't won one of those since the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, a six-series span.

"We didn't play well tonight," forward Craig Adams said. "It doesn't matter if it's Game 2 or Game 3 or Game 5 or what. It wasn't because it was Game 2. We just didn't play well."

The problems cropped up almost immediately. After the game, several Penguins talked about their own poor puck management and inability to break the Islanders' forecheck. That, even during the Penguins' three-goal first period, resulted in a serious shot disparity. New York had 20 shots (13 at even strength), 12 blocked attempts and three misses after 20 minutes of play. Compare that to 12, four and three for the Penguins.

"You could tell we were playing our game," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "If we continued to play the way that we played in the first period, I knew that we'd get on the scoreboard. I knew that we would have some kind of success throughout that game. As a coaching staff, when we play that kind of hockey, we give ourselves a chance."

The Penguins knew it, too.

"The score at that point was not indicative of how well (the Islanders) were playing. And it looked too easy, at that point in time," Bylsma said. "They were playing a much better game, a much more difficult game on our team."

The Isles breaking through may have felt inevitable, but it wasn't—there were 40 minutes left to play.

"We didn't play well in the first period," Jarome Iginla said. "That doesn't mean the game's over and you say, 'Well, we're not playing as well as we did the other night.' We had plenty of chances to turn things around, and we didn't."

New York finished with 42 total shots—36 at even strength—19 blocked attempts and 18 misses. It was the most shots Pittsburgh had allowed in a playoff game since a triple-overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. No. 40 was the backbreaker; a shot by Kyle Okposo at 12:23 of the third period ricocheted off the end boards, hit Marc-Andre Fleury and bounced in the net.

Ah, yes—Fleury. In the first period, he looked primed to do something he hasn't done much since 2009—steal a playoff game. And really, he came close—Bylsma used the term "under siege," and it wasn't out of place. But the game-winning goal, whether the Isles had worn him down or not, was bad. Fleury was fine—but he wasn't good enough. And to write off Okposo's shot as a fluke would do the Islanders a disservice.

"It was a good bounce for them, but they worked hard," Iginla said. "They deserved their bounces tonight. We had a great start, and we let our foot off a little and they ran with it."

So what now? "It's the playoffs. You lose games sometimes," Crosby said. "And I think we've got to make sure we learn from this one pretty quickly."

Defenseman Kris Letang said the same.

"You don't want to put (losses) behind you," Letang said." You want to learn from them. You want to give them credit for what they do well and adjust what was wrong."

Pittsburgh's first shot at adjustment comes on Sunday afternoon. They'll have at least two more—and really, it shouldn't be a problem. The team is, as you often hear, built for the postseason. Having two of the best players on the planet (Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) doesn't hurt, and the track record of success is there, at least in the regular season. But if Pittsburgh doesn't right the ship, the next comeback will be a full-team affair.