3 Takeaways: Isles Snap Skid with 5-4 Shootout Win Over Calgary

Exhale.

That’s what the New York Islanders were finally able to do on Saturday, snapping a seven-game winless skid with a 5-4 shootout win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Oliver Wahlstrom scored the game-deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout, lifting the Isles to their first win since Nov. 2. Hudson Fasching, Kyle Palmieri (1PPG, 1A), Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson scored in regulation for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin stopped 35 shots to pick up his first win since Oct. 26. Martin Pospisil, Blake Coleman, MacKenzie Weegar and Yegor Sharangovich scored for Calgary, while Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 of 33 in the shootout loss.

“It feels really good,” Wahlstrom said. “All the guys are happy to go home with two points. We've been battling and we've been in all of our games, so it's feels good to get two points.”

Saturday’s game marked the first time the Islanders had scored four goals (in regulation) since Oct. 24 against Colorado, as well as their first win beyond 60 minutes this season and the team’s first when allowing the opening goal of the game. With the win, the Islanders finish their western road trip with a 1-1-2 record and are now on a three-game point streak.

PENALTY KILL GETS BACK ON TRACK:

The Islanders penalty kill was under a lot of scrutiny after allowing three goals in back-to-back games in Vancouver and Seattle and going 12-for-24 during the team’s seven-game skid.

That led to a reset for the shorthanded unit, who revaluated and tweaked their approach ahead of Saturday. It paid off, as the penalty kill went a perfect three-for-three, their first clean sheet since going one-for-one against Washington a week prior and first clean sheet with multiple kills since Nov. 2.

“We were doing things differently from a foundational perspective and I'm not even sure we realized it,” said Cal Clutterbuck, who also picked up an assist on his 36^th birthday. “We just kind of sat down and took a look at it, hit the reset button and went back to it and I think we had pretty good success.”

The penalty kill was more aggressive on Saturday and limited the Flames to just one shot on goal, which came on the first of their three opportunities. They caught a break from the Flames, who nullified two of their three power plays, including Jonathan Huberdeau’s high-stick on Simon Holmstrom seven seconds into a Ryan Pulock holding call.

“We were more aggressive in certain areas,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “We won a face-off, and drew a penalty. Casey [Cizikas] went down the ice and drew a penalty, so we didn't spend a lot of time in our zone.”

On the flip side, the Islanders power play remained hot, netting its fifth goal in the past three games with Kyle Palmieri depositing a Bo Horvat rebound to make it 2-1 in the second period. The power play finished the game one-for-three.

ISLES CATCH A COUPLE OF BREAKS:

The Islanders felt they had played good hockey at five-on-five during the first three games of their Western swing but did not get the breaks or the results to match.

That changed on Saturday, as a few key breaks went their way.

There was the Calgary clearing attempt at the blue line that caromed out to Hudson Fasching, who was fresh off the bench, scooped up the puck and snapped a wrister stick side on Jacob Markstrom at the 16:52 mark to tie the score 1-1.

The Huberdeau penalty was another, not only nullifying a Flames power play, but leading directly to an offensive-zone draw that resulted in a Mathew Barzal goal six seconds later. Barzal’s goal featured another break, as Noah Dobson’s point shot was stopped by Flames defenseman Ramus Andersson, who directed the puck back into the slot, where Barzal pounced and beat Markstrom five-hole to make it 3-1 at 8:07.

“Breaks are breaks, but you earn your breaks,” Clutterbuck said. “We've been tested here in the last couple of weeks, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.”

Barzal now has six points (2G, 4A) on a four-game point streak, Dobson extended his point streak to three games (1G, 2A) and Horvat extended his point streak to five games (1G, 4A).

ISLES SHOW SOME RESILIENCE:

Third periods dogged the Islanders on their seven-game slide, and while Saturday’s third period was far from perfect, the Isles found the response that had lacked in recent weeks.

Up 3-2, the Flames came out with a purpose, outshooting the Isles 6-1 in the early going, culminating with MacKenzie Weegar’s goal to even the score 3-3 at 3:12.

That could have broken the Islanders, who had been outscored in third periods 13-2 in the seven games prior, but instead they steadied themselves and retook the lead 20 seconds later. Brock Nelson did the deed, sliding a Sebastian Aho rebound by Markstrom at 3:32.

The Isles were not out of the woods at that point either, with Yegor Sharangovich deflecting a Noah Hanifin point shot past Sorokin to tie the score 4-4 at the 13:43 mark. The Isles held on to get the game to overtime and showed some guts in OT, especially Noah Dobson, who logged a 2:32 shift in the extra frame.

Sharangovich and Horvat traded goals in the first round, with neither team netting until Wahlstrom’s winner, a hard wrister that beat Markstrom far side.

“It’s easy when you're on a seven-game losing streak to hang your head and say, ‘here we go again,’ but we're confident in this room confident in each other that we can get the job done,” Palmieri said. “We know we can win close games. And I think we can take this and get a move in the right direction.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return home to take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.