"Tonight wasn't a good night for us," Brock Nelson said of the team's power play. "You want to try and generate momentum at the very least and we kind of killed it today."
PK Subban scooped up a Ryan Pulock turnover in the defensive zone, drawing Sorokin far out of his crease for a pad save. Unfortunately for the Islanders, the sequence didn't end there, with the rebound finding Nico Hischier, who dished over to Kuokkanen for the game's first goal. Kuokkanen's goal was his fourth in eight career games against the Islanders.
That wasn't the only hairy moment for the man advantage, as the Islanders turned the puck over at their blueline on their second power play, resulting in a quality chance the other way.
An Oliver Wahlstrom tripping penalty negated the last two seconds of the Islanders third power play, which sent the Devils to the man advantage at the end of the period. The Islanders caught a pair of bad breaks shorthanded, first having the play whistled dead due to a clock issue after winning a face-off. Shortly after, an Islanders clearing attempt caromed off a Devils skate and stayed in the zone, setting off a sequence that ultimately led to Dougie Hamilton's point shot deflecting off Tatar and in.
"It's decisions and execution plain and simple," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "To me, that's where it starts. We're coming down, we have to make a play through someone, we don't make it. We have to make a play through someone, which you're going to have to do sometimes and we throw it at someone's feet. Little things like that. Guys want to be on the power play, but we've got four power play goals and we've given up two. We're plus-two in that area. That's not good enough."
