Takeaways: Islanders Let Multiple Leads Slip in 4-3 Loss to Nashville

The New York Islanders fell 4-3 to the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at UBS Arena, which put an end to a three-game winning streak.

Roman Josi scored the game-winning goal with 1:14 left in the game and marked the Predators first lead of the night. Prior to that, Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A), Matthew Schaefer and JG Pageau gave the Islanders a 2-0 and 3-2 leads, respectively, but the Islanders let them both slip.

Filip Forsberg (2G) and Matthew Wood scored for the Predators prior to Josi’s goal, while Juuse Saros made 27 saves. Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves in the loss.

“They know they’re playing down most of the night, and when you’re down you change your style a little bit,” Barzal said. “We had tough time with our pressure tonight, that’s what it came down to. Their forecheck, we had a tough time breaking the puck out. Can’t give up that many shots, Sorokin kept us in there. It’s a really tough loss.”

On top of the disheartening result, the out-of-town scoreboard wasn’t kind to the Islanders either. The Washington Capitals (61 points) moved within four points of the Isles by topping the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in OT, with the two Metro teams collecting a combined total of three points. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who are in second place with 67 points, beat the New York Rangers 6-5.

The Islanders have two huge matchups against divisional opponents with a back-to-back set starting Monday, with a game against the Capitals on the road followed by a matchup vs Pittsburgh at home.

“Those are huge games,” Barzal said. “It’s tight. The whole division is tight, the playoffs are tight. It’ll come right down to the wire and we have to find a way to win games.”

TAKEAWAYS

- The Islanders came out of the gate with noticeable energy, racking up two goals in the first 5:57 with Barzal and Schaefer’s tallies, but the Predators used their first power play of the game to get back in the picture. Adam Pelech took a tripping penalty midway through the opening frame and the Predators pounced on the opportunity as Forsberg scored six seconds into the man advantage to make it 2-1. Matthew Wood less than three minutes after Forsberg’s goal, hammering a shot off the post and in at the 12:53 mark of the first period.

- The Islanders regained the lead at the 12:39 mark of the second period, as Pageau’s shot hit the stick of a Predators defender and straight back to Pageau, who buried the puck behind Saros to make it 3-2. The Preds found the equalizer yet again with Josi’s second goal of the game at the 14:11 mark of the second period, as his shot deflected off the stick of Pageau and in. Josi found the game-winner at the 18:46 mark of the final frame.

“The crowd was buzzing, we feed off that and we started well,” Lee said. “They got their game back a little bit, and we didn’t regain the momentum and the game we wanted to play. We had a tough night. We know we have better.”

- A Tony DeAngelo goal was waived off for goalie interference in the third period. Head Coach Patrick Roy’s Coach’s Challenge failed and the Isles fended off the ensuing penalty for delay of game.

- Sorokin’s 38-save effort marked the second highest of the season, while it was also his fourth game this season where he had to make 35+ saves. Sorokin made 21 saves in the second period alone, while Roy said that was the “worst period the Islanders played all season” and said their breakouts in the first and third were better than the middle frame. Sorokin was screened on Josi’s eventual winner, as the defenseman curled high in the Islanders zone and sent a wrist shot top corner.

- With his 360^th career assist, Barzal took sole possession of fifth place in franchise history, passing Clark Gillies (359). Barzal chipped and tapped the puck over the shoulder of Saros to open the scoring 1:29 into the contest for his 14^th goal of the season and third in his last four games.

- Schaefer added to the lead with his 15^th goal of the season, receiving a pass from Ryan Pulock and moving in on the left side and ripping a shot through Saros at the left dot. Schaefer ranks third among all rookies in goals (15) and points (37), while he ranks second on the Isles in scoring.

- Pulock notched his 181^st career assist, passing Noah Dobson for fifth in franchise history among defensemen.

- Jonathan Drouin (sick) was a late scratch and missed the contest. Max Shabanov drew into the lineup in Drouin’s place on a line with Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair. Shabanov led the team with four shots on goal and logged 14:12 TOI.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders face the Capitals in the nation’s capital on Monday night. Puck drop is at 7PM.