Recap: Blackhawks 3, Islanders 1

Puck luck was not on the New York Islanders side in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
That was one of the takeaways after re-watching two of Chicago's three goals; the first re-directingn off an Islanders stick, while the second caromed off the end-boards stanchion right to Brandon Saad, who was looking at an open net.
"I thought tonight for the most part we played pretty good," said Jaroslav Halak, who stopped 22-of-24 shots. "They scored two lucky bounces, but that's hockey and we just need to find a way to get another one."

John Tavares made it a one-goal game with 2:42 to play in the third, but that was as close as the Islanders came in their comeback bid.
The decisive stretch came in the second period. Patrick Kane's wrist shot took a right turn off Adam Pelech's stick and eluded Halak for the icebreaker at 2:36 of the second. Less than two minutes later, Saad's shot off the glass caught the stanchion and landed back on his stick, which he banked off Halak's skate as the Islanders goalie was looking for the puck.

The two goals undid a good first period and forced the Islanders to chase the Blackhawks the rest of the way. Head Coach Doug Weight said he was relatively pleased with how his team played in their own end, stressing that Kane's shot - a wrister from the half wall - was from a spot they're comfortable forcing opponents too. As for the Saad goal, it was just bad luck, as that shot usually winds up in the far corner rather than where it landed.
"Without those two shifts we played a pretty good game, played hard," Weight said. "They did a good job of keeping us to the outside, but we generated and [goalie Anton] Forsberg was good."
The Islanders pressed in the third, generating pressure off a late power play. They didn't convert, but Tavares walked off the goal line and roofed a backhander over Forsberg to give his team a chance. Brent Seabrook iced the game with an empty-netter with 1:14 to play.
"We just came up a little short on the comeback here tonight and we have to move on," Anders Lee said.

NOTES:

Anders Lee's goal streak ended at three games. Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal both had their five-game point streaks snapped on Saturday. The Islanders power-play goal streak ended at four games.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up their five-game homestand on Monday night when they host the Florida Panthers. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

POSTGAME: