Takeaways: Islanders Drop 4-3 Contest to Chicago

The New York Islanders comeback bid fell just short on Tuesday night, as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks at UBS Arena.

Anders Lee, Simon Holmstrom and Cal Ritchie scored for the Islanders, but it wasn’t enough to combat offense from Nick Lardis (1G, 2A), Ilya Mikheyev, Tyler Bertuzzi (1G, 1A) and Frank Nazar (1G, 1A) and a 44-save performance from Arvid Soderblom. David Rittich allowed three goals on 12 shots before he was replaced by Ilya Sorokin at the start of the second period. Sorokin made 11 saves in a relief effort.

After allowing four straight goals, the Islanders cut the 4-1 deficit to 4-3, putting up a fight until the final horn.

"We were saying we could find three goals we found two," Lee said. "We had a bad few minutes, but that's not going to stop us from doing whatever we can to try to win."

Tuesday’s loss had standings implications, as the out of town scoreboard provided mixed results for the Islanders.

The Ottawa Senators held off the Detroit Red Wings 3-2, meaning the Sens (85 points) leaped over the Red Wings (84 points) and the Islanders (85 points) into the second Wild Card, due to a game in-hand on New York. The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 following their 1-0 defeat to the Isles on Sunday night. Columbus (87 points) moved up to second place in the Metropolitan Division, while the Flyers (80 points) remained five points back with two games in-hand.

The Pittsburgh Penguins (86 points) dropped to third in the Metro after a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Pens still have a game in-hand over the Isles. Finally, the Montreal Canadiens topped the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on home ice to remain in third place in the Atlantic Division with 88 points.

TAKEAWAYS

For the second straight game, the Islanders scored on their first shot of the game.Matthew Schaefer’s point shot deflected off Lee and in 49 seconds into the game for an early lead. The goal was Lee’s 305^th career goal, which passed Clark Gillies for sole possession of fourth place in franchise history.

Chicago stole the momentum back when Nazar and Bertuzzi rushed in on Rittich on a two-on-one. After Nazar missed the net, he scooped up the puck and found Lardis alone in the slot, who deposited the 1-1 goal at the 12:46 mark of the first period.

From there Chicago started to roll. Mikheyev corralled the puck at the blue line and skated past Scott Mayfield and went in on Rittich, taking a 2-1 lead for the Blackhawks with 1:54 left in the frame. Chicago did more damage before the period expired, as Alex Vlasic’s shot deflected off Rittich and Adam Boqvist and landed on Bertuzzi’s stick got caught in the shoulder of Rittich and as he got it loose, he banked in a shot behind Rittich to take a 3-1 lead at the 19:31 mark.

"We made a few mistakes in the first" Lee said. "Until those mistakes started happening, I thought we came out strong and played a good first 10 minutes. We made some mistakes and left Rittich out to dry, and the next thing we know it's 3-1."

Rittich was replaced by Sorokin after 20 minutes and Head Coach Patrick Roy explained his decision by saying he wanted to spark the team as an attempt to shift the momentum.

“We understood that it was an important game for us, and we had to find a way to get back in that game and create something,” Roy said. “Sometimes it's just a decision to create a spark and I thought it did.”

JG Pageau hit the post on a shorthanded opportunity, while Bo Horvat was buzzing – he set a career-high with 10 shots on goal – but the Islanders had a scoreless middle frame. The Islanders got unlucky and after a missed icing call, the Isles got hemmed in their own zone which allowed for Nazar to capitalize and bury the Blackhawks’ fourth goal of the game at the 6:02 mark of the second period to take a 4-1 lead.

Down 4-1 in the third period, the Islanders posted put up a fight and recorded 23 shots on goal and limited the Blackhawks to five shots on net. Mayfield found Holmstrom in the low slot and the Swedish winger pounded a shot past Soderblom to make it 4-2 with 11:15 left in the frame. With under four minutes left, Mathew Barzal found Carson Soucy in the blue line, whose shot squeaked through Soderblom and Ritchie tapped in or good measure.  Horvat had a grade-A chance shortly after Ritchie’s goal, but Soderblom made the save to keep it 4-3.

The Islanders posted 47 shots on goal, which ranks second-most this season in shots on goal, but Soderblom stood tall.

"He made some good saves at key times in the game," Pageau said. "He was moving well. We challenged him."

Tony DeAngelo (lower-body) left the game midway through the first period and did not return. The Isles skated with five defensemen in his absence. Roy said that DeAngelo will be evaluated on Wednesday.

Schaefer recorded a career-high 31:59 TOI, beating his own record by an 18-year-old defenseman, 29:24 set on Mar. 13. The rookie also tied a career-high eight shots on goal (he had eight shots on goal on Oct. 11 vs Washington).

Holmstrom potted his 18^th goal of the season, two shy of his career-high 20 he established last season.

Ryan Pulock missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.

Heineman's seven hits ties a career high. He reached seven hits twice prior (Nov. 23 vs Seattle and Oct. 18 at OTT)

NEXT GAME

The Islanders continue their five-game homestand with a matchup against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 7PM.