Recap: Red Wings 6, Islanders 3

Judging by how the New York Islanders played the first 40 minutes on Tuesday night, they felt they deserved a better fate than a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Islanders had outshot the Red Wings 32-10 through two periods, including a dominant 15-1 stretch in the middle frame. But even with a heavy shot advantage, the Islanders couldn't do better than a 3-3 tie through 40 minutes and watched the Red Wings score three straight to ultimately fall 6-3.

"I liked our first two periods, but I didn't think we were very good in the third," said John Tavares, who had a pair of assists in Tuesday's loss. "We deserved a better fate, but we didn't go out and dictate in the third."

The Islanders suffered their first loss when opening the scoring (11-1-0) and only their third regulation loss at home (10-3-2). Anders Lee put the Islanders ahead 1-0 6:32 into the first, spinning and scoring in the slot after Tavares stripped Luke Glendening in the corner and fed Lee out front.
The Red Wings responded with a pair of goals before the end of the period, as Martin Frk tapped in a cross-ice feed from Jonathan Ericsson to tie it up at 9:33, while Gustav Nyquist beat Greiss on the power play at 16:49.
Ryan Pulock tied the score 2-2 at 2:03 of the second with a power-play one-timer and his heavy shot set the tone for the rest of the period. The Islanders put a season-high 23 shots on goal in the period, taking a 3-2 lead on Bailey's 10th of the season at 12:59. Rookie Mathew Barzal set up the goal with a between-the-legs shot that ricocheted to Bailey for his fifth goal in his last three games.

That didn't put the Red Wings away, who tied the score at three after Anthony Mantha banked a shot in off a scrambling Thomas Greiss from below the goal line at 15:15.
"It's disappointing. The shots were 32-10 and it's a 3-3 game. It's tough," head coach Doug Weight said. "We played two really good periods and it's disappointing."

The Red Wings came alive in the third period, outshooting the Islanders 12-5 in the final frame. Trevor Daley scored the eventual winner, while Mike Green added the insurance to make it 5-3 and Glendening iced with with an empty-netter.
"There was times where we were kind of all over them and firing pucks on net," Pulock said. "I think we had some breakdowns that ended up costing us."
Greiss made 16 saves in the loss, while Mrazek made 34 saves in the win.

NOTES AND NUMBERS:

John Tavares, Anders Lee and Josh Bailey - the top three scorers in the NHL last week - all extended their point streaks. Lee and Bailey extended their streaks to six games, while Tavares stretched his to five games… The Islanders went 2-for-3 on the power play… Detroit went 1-for-1 on the power play.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back at Barclays Center on Thursday night to host the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.