Anders Lee scored twice in the third period but the Islanders were unable to sweep a home-and-home series with a 3-2 loss to the Penguins on Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena. Slow starts in each of the first two periods and a special teams’ disadvantage proved the difference.

In their second match against the Penguins in 24 hours, with a chance to climb back to NHL-.500 and within touching distance of the playoff cutline, the Islanders fell flat in the form of a 3-2 defeat at PPG Paints Arena. A 14-16-7 record after 37 games is, indeed, hard to take all that seriously as a contender.

The Islanders’ dogged work for the opening 10 minutes of the second period helped make good on Roy’s promise on Saturday night. They scored three goals during that stretch — those goals the result of won battles, races, and every inch of contested ice — to fuel a 6-3 win over the Penguins at USB Arena in Elmont, N.Y.