Takeaways: Islanders Drop Second Straight Game in 4-1 Decision to Canucks

The New York Islanders fell to the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Friday night in the first half of a back-to-back set.

Anders Lee scored the lone goal for the Islanders in the loss at 6-on-5 late in the third period. Kiefer Sherwood’s hat trick led the Canucks to their third straight win, while David Kampf also scored. Ilya Sorokin stopped 26-of-29 shots in the loss while Thatcher Demko made 22 saves in the win.

The loss put an end to the Islanders’ five-game home winning streak, and marked their second straight loss overall.

“It was probably our worst home game at home all year,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We all go through those. We hope that they don’t happen, but when they happen you have to find a way to battle through and find a way to come back and win the game. We didn’t do it tonight.”

TAKEAWAYS

- The Islanders fell in a 3-0 hole by the 15:47 mark of the first period and couldn’t dig themselves out of it. The Isles had a late push when Roy pulled Sorokin with under six minutes left in the game, as Cal Ritchie fed Lee with a no-look pass across the crease for his ninth goal of the season to make it 3-1. It was as close as the Islanders came before Sherwood completed his hat trick with an empty netter with 1:21 left in the game.

“We did not play well tonight,” Lee said. “We made some mistakes that ended up in the back of our net, but aside from that, we were off our game tonight. Our passes weren’t great and we got hemmed in a little too much. We weren’t as connected as we set out to be.”

- Turnovers and defensive breakdowns cost the Islanders early into the game. Jake DeBrusk stripped the puck from Adam Boqvist behind the Islanders net and passed it to Kampf, who scored from the right side of the crease to open the scoring at the 8:57 mark of the first period. Matthew Schaefer was pickpocketed at the Isles blueline by Sherwood, who rushed in alone on Sorokin and scored far-side to take 2-0 advantage.

“Defensively, we could be a lot better," Ryan Pulock said after the loss. "I thought tonight we gave up too many plays in the middle. I think it's a matter of bringing more juice and being sharper structurally."

- The Islanders struggled on special teams on Friday. The power play went 0-for-3 on the night, and the Isles had 58 seconds of a 5-on-3 opportunity early in the game which didn’t generate many chances early. The missed opportunity haunted the Islanders, as Roy said that it gave Vancouver momentum.

- The penalty kill allowed its fourth goal in the last three games. Filip Hronek found Sherwood with enough time and space in the slot for him to rip a shot past Sorokin to take a 3-0 advantage late in the first period.

- Schaefer sparked the team with a strong individual effort. Schaefer sprung out of the penalty box, forced a turnover in the Isles zone and zipped to the other end of the ice. He deked around a few Canucks defenders, crashed the net with a chance on Demko but got tripped at the doorstep.

- With a secondary assist on Lee’s goal, Barzal extended his season-long point streak to six games with six points (1G, 5A) over that span.

- The Isles had the edge on hits, 21-10. Marc Gatcomb led with five.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders don’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they’ll play the Sabres in Buffalo on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 5PM.