3 Takeaways: Isles Get Point in 4-3 OT Loss to Canucks

The New York Islanders picked up a point on Wednesday night, but their winless streak reached six games after a 4-3 OT loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

Pierre Engvall (PPG), Brock Nelson (PPG) and Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders, who built a 2-0 lead in the first period, but let it slip away. J.T. Miller (1G, 2A), Brock Boeser (1G, 2A) and Filip Hronek scored power-play goals for the Canucks, with Quinn Hughes (1G, 2A) winning it at 2:36 of overtime. Ilya Sorokin stopped 39 of 43 in the loss, while Thatcher Demko stopped 30 of 33 in the win.

In the process, the Islanders dropped to 0-4-2 in their last six games, so while a point was necessary, it left the Islanders unsatisfied, as they shift their focus to Thursday’s game in Seattle.

“The frustrating part is at five and five we're not playing bad hockey and now it's just a matter of us putting it all together,” Horvat said. “Our special teams has to be better and us guys that go out there in those key moments have to be better as well.”

TROUBLING TRENDS CONTINUE FOR ISLANDERS:

The same issues that have plagued the Islanders on their winless stretch reared their heads again on Wednesday night.

The headliner was the penalty kill, which went three-for-six on the game, allowing the Canucks’ potent offense to work the team back into the game. Wednesday also marked the fourth time this season the Isles had taken six or more penalties, which had them playing with fire against the league’s third-best power play.

“We just took way too many penalties there and gave them some momentum,” Horvat said. “It’s just kind of been the common theme for us right now.”

The Isles also saw a multi-goal lead slip away for the fifth time this season and while they have points in all five games, they boast a 2-0-3 record.

While the Isles continued their trend of being a solid first period team, building a 2-0 lead early, they’ve been outscored 12-1 in third periods during their six-game slide. Vancouver scored the lone goal in Wednesday’s third period, but the had quality looks of their own down the stretch, with Anders Lee’s shot being swept off the goal line by Ian Cole and a Sebastian Aho shot off the crossbar.

“We had pushes,” Lambert said. “It was a totally different pushback than we’ve seen.”

Though they got the game to overtime, the extra frame has not been kind to the Islanders, who are now 0-4 in the three-on-three stanza. Lambert had a quick diagnosis for the Isles struggles in OT, especially in light of a breakaway goal from defenseman Quinn Hughes.

“Missed assignments,” the coach said. “There's nothing else you can say. It's three on three. It's man on man. If you don't get your assignment. It ends up in the back of your net.”

SPECIAL TEAMS SINK ISLES:

The special teams giveth and the special teams taketh away, as the Islanders scored a pair of power-play goals on Wednesday night, but conceded three.

Pierre Engvall opened the scoring at 7:30 of the first, wristing a shot that deflected off Dakota Joshua and and through Thatcher Demko. Less than two minutes later, Brock Nelson doubled the lead, backhanding a rebound over a sprawled Demko from the side of the net.

The quick strikes were the Isles earliest pair of power-play goals since 2009 and also marked the team’s first time with more than one power-play goal this season.

That was the positive side of the special teams ledger, but from there the special teams were all Canucks – literally as the Isles did not get another power play the rest of the night, while the Canucks had six.

J.T. Miller got the Canucks on the board at 4:39, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Elias Pettersson, and beating Ilya Sorokin short side. Horvat re-established the Isles’ 3-1 lead at the 8:33 mark, but the Canucks surrendered their second power-play goal to Boeser, who converted a Miller feed from the bumper spot. The Islanders found themselves on a two-minute five on three in the third period and the Canucks cashed in, with Filip Hronek blasting a shot through from the point.

“I didn't like our penalty killing,” Lambert said. “I thought we were too passive. I think when you are getting scored on, you start to sit back. That's what happened a little bit and then you can't take two penalties on the same play. I'm sorry, it just can't happen. That’s too good of a power play to do that.”

The Islanders have now allowed nine power-play goals on 20 opportunities over the past six games. Wednesday also marked the fourth time this season the Isles have allowed multiple power-play goals in a game.

HORVAT SCORES IN EMOTIONAL RETURN:

Bo Horvat scored in his much-anticipated return to Vancouver, providing a bright spot on the evening.

The Islanders center – and former Canucks captain – looked hungry from the drop of the puck and got rewarded in the second period, one-timing a feed from Mathew Barzal – who is up to 16 points in 10 games vs Vancouver – at the 8:33 mark. Horvat finished the game with a goal, three shots and six total attempts in 22:16 TOI.

Initially, Horvat got a mixed reception from the Rogers Arena crowd, getting both cheers and boos when his name was mentioned pregame. He was lightly booed when he touched the puck, but ultimately got a nice ovation from Canucks fans when his video tributed rolled during the first TV timeout.

Horvat’s face said it all and it was clear the former Canucks captain was touched by the positive reception from Vancouverites during his tribute.

“I was emotional for the whole warmup,” Horvat said. “It brought back a ton of memories and just the whole tribute, the way they reacted just meant a lot to me. So, you know, it was pretty special… Too bad we couldn't get the two points, but one I won't forget.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders road trip continues on Thursday night as they take on the Seattle Kraken in the second half of a back to back set. Puck drop is at 10 p.m. et