Takeaways: Islanders Pick Up Point in 2-1 Shootout Loss to Predators

The New York Islanders picked up a point on Thursday, but came out on the wrong end of a tight 2-1 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

Simon Holmstrom opened the scoring for the Islanders, while Ryan O’Reilly scored a shorthanded goal to tie it and Filip Forsberg netted the lone goal in the shootout to win it.

David Rittich stopped 26-of-27 shots in the shootout loss, while Juuse Saros stopped 30-of-31 in the win.

The Islanders extended their point streak to three games (2-0-1), but extended their winless streak in Nashville to seven games (0-4-3).

“We got the point. We're going to learn from it,” Matthew Schaefer said. “We're going to learn from things we can do better at and move on.”

TAKEAWAYS

Thursday’s game was the polar opposite of Tuesday’s high-flying, high-scoring win, as the Isles and Preds played a low-scoring, tight-checking contest.

High-danger chances were few and far between during regulation, with both Rittich and Saros looking sharp from puck drop. The game opened up in overtime, especially for the Islanders, who outshot Nashville 5-1 in the extra frame and maintained possession for nearly the entire session.

Matthew Schaefer had perhaps the Islanders’ best look late, with Holmstrom finding him alone in the slot. Unlike Saturday’s heroics over Toronto, Saros kicked out Schaefer’s shot to send the game to the shootout.

The margins were even closer in the bonus round, with a Holmstrom shot hitting the post – and a Forsberg backhand hitting the crossbar – after a nifty deke around a Rittich pokecheck – and dropping in.

“I don't think you can get frustrated, I don't think that's good for the group,” Ryan Pulock said. “It was pretty tight both ways. We had a few looks. We weren't able to capitalize on those at five on five. Thought we defended pretty well.”

Holmstrom had a strong game on Thursday night. The Swedish forward opened the scoring at 12:14 of the second period and extended his goal streak to two games in the process. Scott Mayfield did the dirty work, coming off the blue line, circling the net and feeding the winger with a pass through traffic across the crease. Still, Holmstrom went to the net, which was noted by Head Coach Patrick Roy.

“That's what happens when you play between the dots,” Roy said. “Good opportunities come.”

Holmstrom also had an impact in overtime, notably outworking Steven Stamkos to lead a rush up the ice, which resulted in his pass to Schaefer for the OT look. In the shootout, Holmstrom was millimeters away from tying the score, but wound up finding iron.

“He was probably one of our better players,” Roy said.

Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to three games with the secondary assist and now has six points (1G, 5A) over that span. It’s important production with Bo Horvat out and Barzal also had five points in the five games Horvat missed in December. While Barzal finished the game with six shot attempts (two on goal), and set up a couple of good looks for Emil Heineman, he also had a game-high four giveaways.

Rittich was capable in his eighth start in nine games. He had a good save on a backdoor, backhand look by Nick Blankenburg in the first period and during some Preds sequences in the second. The few times the Islanders got caught scrambling against the O’Reilly, Forsberg and Stamkos trio, Rittich stood tall. Hard to fault him on Forsberg's shootout winner.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 8 PM eastern.