Takeaways: Islanders Fall to Wild 6-3

The New York Islanders are going into the 4 Nations Face-Off on a sour note, falling 6-3 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Kyle Palmieri (1G, 1A), Brock Nelson (1G, 1A) and Anders Lee had the Islanders up 3-1 midway through the second period, but the Wild scored five unanswered goals to send the Isles into the break on two straight losses.

“Same thing as last night, we're kind of right there and obviously in a much better spot,” Nelson said. “We somehow have to find a way to kind of weather that little push that they have and not allow them to get back front and have that big difference.”

The loss extended the Islanders’ winless skid against Minnesota to seven games (0-6-1) and was a missed opportunity on a day where the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens all lost in regulation.

As of Saturday night, the Islanders (57 points) are four points back of the Red Wings (61 points) for the second wild card. The Blue Jackets (60 points), Bruins (60 points) and Rangers (58 points) stand between them and a playoff spot.

SECOND PERIOD STRETCH TURNS GAME:

Armed with a 3-1 lead, the Islanders seemed like they were well in control of the game midway through the second period. The Isles had the Wild hemmed in their own zone for long stretches, Minnesota natives in Nelson and Lee had found the back of the net earlier in the period and New York had a 12-3 shot advantage in the frame.

It turned quick, as the Wild scored three goals in a span of 5:29, sending the Isles to the intermission down 4-3.

All three goals came via a deflection, with Frederik Gaudreau’s shot caroming off Tony DeAngelo to make it 3-2 at 13:21 and negate what had been a solid penalty kill to that point. Matt Boldy deflecting the tying goal off a Jonas Brodin point shot at 17:59, while Yakov Trenin redirected Jake Middleton’s point shot at 18:50, capping off a chaotic sequence started by an Anthony Duclair turnover.

“We were in control,” Palmieri said. “They got that power play, and then all of a sudden, you blink, and it's four three. Just a crummy three or four minutes.”

That costly stretch meant the Isles – who had played the night before – were in chase mode in the third period, but couldn’t recapture the control they exuded in the second. Palmieri ultimately had his pocket picked exiting the zone on the Wild’s fifth goal, which resulted in Boldy’s second of the night, a centering feed inadvertently swept in by a DeAngelo clearing attempt.

The Isles had a last-ditch effort on a third period power play – including a Simon Holmstrom shot off the post – but couldn’t dig out, with Marcus Foligno icing the game with a long-range empty netter.

TAKEAWAYS:

- The Tsyplakov-Nelson-Palmieri line was on its game offensively, with the trio combining for six points (2G, 4A) and fully connecting on the Isles’ first two goals. Palmieri beat Filip Gustavsson cleanly from the slot to tie the score 1-1 13 seconds after Marco Rossi opened the scoring for Minnesota.

The line was also connected on a well-executed tic-tac-toe, with Tsyplakov finding an open Nelson for a one-timer 28 seconds into the second period.

- Scott Perunovich had an exceptional shift in the lead-up to Lee’s goal. The 5’10 defenseman pressured Mats Zuccarello into a turnover in the Islanders zone and later jumped up to glove down a Zuccarello clearing attempt at the Wild blue line. After gloving the puck, Perunovich skated into the slot before dishing to Lee for the backdoor play, giving the Isles a 3-1 lead. Perunovich finished the game with 24:39 TOI, one assist and a +2 rating.

- Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves on 32 shots as he started both games of an Isles’ back-to-back set for the second time this season.

After posting back-to-back wins against Carolina and Ottawa in December, he came up empty in Winnipeg and Minnesota. Three – or four depending how you score the own goal – of the Wild’s five goals came via deflection – so if he saw it, he stopped it, save for Rossi’s uncontested wrister from the slot to open the scoring.

Nevertheless, Isles netminder allowed four-or-more goals for a second-straight game, which hadn’t happened since Sorokin allowed four goals in consecutive contests since Dec. 12-17, when he allowed four goals in three straight starts.

ODDS AND ENDS:

• Nelson tied Pat LaFontaine (566 points) for eighth on the Islanders’ all-time points leaderboard.
• Nelson led the team with eight shots on goal and 12 total attempts
• Alexander Romanov played a team-high 27:06 TOI
• JG Pageau won 14 of 18 face-offs on Saturday

LINEUP NOTES:

Again, no notes. Same squad from Friday in Winnipeg.

NOTABLE QUOTE:

Patrick Roy on his message to the team at the break:

“I said to the guys that I was very proud of them before the game. They've been doing exactly what we wanted, and we are playing good hockey right now… Our guys deserve the break, and we need to be ready when we come back, when we play Dallas.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are off for two weeks for the 4 Nations Face-Off, meaning they’ll retake the ice on Sunday, Feb. 23 against Dallas. While the team is off, Brock Nelson is on, as he will represent Team USA at the 4 Nations. Catch him in action on Thursday when Team USA takes on Sweden.