3 Takeaways: Flames 3, Islanders 2

The New York Islanders couldn't hold onto a two-goal lead on Sunday, as the Calgary Flames scored three unanswered goals to beat the Isles 3-2 at Barclays Center.
Casey Cizikas and Anthony Beauvillier gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead, but Matthew Tkachuk scored a pair of third-period goals, including the game-winner with 65 seconds to play as Calgary completed the comeback. Mark Jankowski also scored for the Flames.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday night's game.

Video: NYI Recap: Cizikas, Beauvillier score in 3-2 loss

1. ISLES CAN'T HOLD LEAD, LOSE LATE:

The Islanders got out to the start they wanted on Sunday and took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but couldn't close out the contest.
After a back-and-forth 40 minutes, the Flames turned up the heat in the third, outshooting the Islanders 19-7 in the final frame - 42-25 on the game - eventually breaking through for a pair of goals.
"We were just on our heels," said John Tavares, who went 19-5 in the faceoff dot. "They pushed harder than we did and just executed better and forced us to have to defend and kind of have to just survive some shifts. Obviously we let them get some chances and get the victory."

BOXSCORE - PHOTO GALLERY - THE SKINNY

Tkachuk deflected a centering feed from Michael Frolik past Jaroslav Halak at 9:38 of the third period to tie the score 2-2 and struck again in the final minutes. A bad bounce did the Islanders in, as Tkachuk deflected a Travis Hamonic point shot that hit the post, caromed off Halak's skate and just crossed the line as the Isles goalie tried to sweep it back.
"[They had] 45 shots or whatever it was, you're going to get a couple of good chances," Mathew Barzal said. "Jaro again was our best player and unfortunately we just kind of collapsed there at the end a little bit."
The Islanders have now given up the tying or winning goal in three of their past four games.
"We seem to have done it a few times to ourselves this year, a couple lately," Tavares said. "We're giving up way too many late goals and too many goals in general. It's just making it harder for us down the stretch here to get to where we want to get to. It's obviously an area we have to be a lot better in."

2. WIN ONE, LOSE ONE:

The Islanders were hoping that Friday's overtime win would translate into some momentum and a string of wins. That looked promising at first, but ultimately wasn't the case on Sunday, as the Islanders continued their up and down month. Since winning three straight from Jan. 7-15, the Islanders have not won consecutive games.
"Especially the way that we came back [vs. Detroit] we wanted to keep that going," said Cizikas, who lunged at a puck in the first period and poked it through Mike Smith's five-hole. "We played well for 40 minutes and then got away from what made us successful."
The loss prevented the Islanders (60 points) from getting back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture, as they remain one point back of the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card.
"Myself included it wasn't good enough all around tonight," Barzal said. "That's a good hockey team, but at the end of the day that's a game we needed to win and we should've won."

3. CLUTTERBUCK LEAVES GAME:

Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the third period after a high collision with Curtis Lazar and did not return. There was no update on Clutterbuck's status after the game.

NOTES:

Brock Nelson's four-game point streak came to an end... Jaroslav Halak made 39 saves in the loss... Mike Smith made 23 saves in the win, but left the game with an injury with 1.1 seconds to play... The Islanders streak of four games with a power-play goal ended.

POSTGAME VIDEO: