Takeaways: Islanders Suffer Last-Second Loss to Senators

The New York Islanders were stunned by the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, as they fell 3-2 on a last-second goal at Canadian Tire Centre.

Brady Tkachuk broke a 2-2 tie with 13 seconds to play, as the Senators captain deposited a Jordan Spence rebound past Ilya Sorokin to send the Islanders to a regulation loss to a team chasing them in the standings. 

“It's about as frustrating as it gets,” Mathew Barzal said.

Matthew Schaefer and Brayden Schenn scored for the Islanders, who had 1-0 and 2-1 leads, while Shane Pinto (SHG) and Warren Foegele answered with a pair of tallies.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 of 26 in the loss, his first regulation loss to Ottawa, while James Reimer stopped 17 of 19 in the win.

It was a costly night for the Islanders (83 points) to come up empty, compounded by the fact that Columbus (83 points), Detroit (84 points) and Boston (84 points) all won on Thursday. As a result, the Islanders found themselves outside of a playoff position for the first time since Dec. 4.

“We're a veteran group. We know how crucial this part of the year is,” Barzal said. “We'll just turn the page. We have such big games coming up that we can't let one unfortunate loss hurt us.”

TAKEAWAYS

- This type of loss has been uncharacteristic for the Islanders this season, who have found more ways to rally for points recently than give them away.

To a man, the Islanders felt like they were hemmed in in the third period, as evidenced by the Senators 11-1 shot advantage in the final frame.

“They did a better job than us to be on those 50-50 pucks,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We made a few turnovers that gave them some momentum, and then we had a hard time getting out of the zone.”

Anders Lee, who fought Tkachuk on the opening faceoff, gave a similar assessment.

“They had some good o-zone time and by the time we got it out, we had to change,” Lee said. “When you're surviving a little bit, they're coming right back at you. And we just didn't break it out as much as we needed to.”

The Islanders made the most of their one third period shot, as Schenn buried a one-timer off the rush from Simon Holmstrom, but after that it was all Senators. Foegele tied the score by depositing a loose puck that caromed off several bodies before finding the forward at the side of the net. Michael Amadio was robbed on a two-on-one by Sorokin before Bo Horvat cleared a loose puck out of the crease, the second of two player clears out of the crease in the game.

“Maybe a little bit of just trying to hang in there and get a point and get to overtime,” Barzal said. “Credit to them, tonight was a must win for them, and they showed it.”

- Schaefer opened the scoring for the Islanders at the 4:45 mark of the second period, sniping a shot through traffic and high on Reimer. The goal was Schaefer’s 21^st of the season and 50^th point of the season. In the process, Schaefer became the second 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history to record 50 points, joining Phil Housley. Per NHL Stats, Schaefer also became the fourth active blueliner to record 50 points in their first 70 games, joining Cale Makar (57 GP), Lane Hutson (63 GP) and Quinn Hughes (64 GP). Good company.

- After scoring a pair of goals on Tuesday, the Isles power play was a net negative on Thursday, going 0-for-4 and allowing Pinto’s shorthanded goal. Pinto kept, shot and scored stick side on Sorokin on a two-on-one rush.

 - The game started with a bang, with Lee and Tkachuk dropping the gloves off the opening face-off. Schenn and Ridly Greig followed up with a scrap six minutes after the two captains.  

- Anthony Duclair briefly left the game after blocking a Tyler Kleven shot off his right leg 6:27 into the second period. Duclair needed to be helped off the ice, but returned to the game in the third period.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday night when they visit the Montreal Canadiens. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.