Takeaways: Islanders Winning Streak Snapped in 3-2 Loss to Red Wings

The New York Islanders’ three-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night, as the Isles fell 3-2 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.

Emil Heineman and Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders, but a pair of power-play goals from Alex DeBrincat and Axel Sandin-Pellikka proved to be the difference. Lucas Raymond had three assists.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 18-of-21 shots in the loss, while John Gibson stopped 16-of-18 shots in the win.

For the Islanders, Tuesday marked their first regulation loss when leading after two periods (10-1-1).

TAKEAWAYS

- While it’s been a good stretch for the Isles, who had won five of their last six games heading into Tuesday, it was a disappointing result, largely stemming from battling back, only to see points slip away late.

“We were a few minutes away from getting a point out of it, and after being down late in the game, so I think right now that's the frustrating side of things,” Anders Lee said. “But we know we can play better hockey.”

Head Coach Patrick Roy also offered some bigger-picture perspective, noting that the team had back-to-back off days heading into Thursday. While the coach expected perhaps some short-term sag, he felt the back-to-back off days will benefit his team in the long run given the condensed schedule.

- There wasn’t a lot of space out there for either team on Tuesday, and that meant few offensive opportunities for the Islanders, who managed 18 shots on goal, their second-lowest total of the season. In fairness, Detroit didn’t have much either, managing just 21 shots on goal – and only 19 at five-on-five. Simon Holmstrom’s second period shot off the crossbar was probably the team’s best chance outside of the two goals, but they were few and far between.

“We limited them to the outside, but overall, we didn’t control as much as we would have liked,” Lee said. “They were stepping up on us in the neutral zone and they picked a few passes off. We could have been a little more simple at times and just put the puck in and go because that’s what they were doing tonight.”

The game opened up a bit more in the third period with Detroit finding a way to break through the offensive gridlock with a pair of goals 1:52 apart to start the period, their offense seemingly unstuck by Sandin-Pellikka’s sharp-angled shot over Sorokin at the 2:03 mark.

- After that, the Red Wings power play was the difference, with DeBrincat picking a pair of corners. DeBrincat’s second came with 2:17 to play, as his initial shot was blocked by Ryan Pulock, but the rebound landed back on the stick of the Red Wings sharpshooter. A bad break, especially on a call Roy said he wasn’t thrilled with given the stakes in a 2-2 tie.

Again some perspective, the Isles penalty kill has been good of late and hadn’t allowed two power-play goals in a game since Oct. 28 in Boston. Heineman said postgame, the penalty kill planned to stay. Roy didn’t seem to think there were any underlying issues either, crediting DeBrincat, who is up to 20 goals this season.

“They were two great shots,” Roy said. “I don’t think Ilya had much chance on those. That’s the name of the game, sometimes you have to find a way to kill those penalties and we’ve been doing it all year, unfortunately we didn’t do it here tonight.”

- Heineman opened the scoring with a bullet on Tuesday, one-timing a Mathew Barzal backhand feed off the rush. The goal was Heineman’s 11^th of the season, establishing a new career high – in his100th game.

Barzal’s assist also extended his point streak to five games (1G, 4A). On a night without a lot of offensive zone time, that line had its fair share.

- Mayfield tied the score with 8:34 remaining, joining the rush, getting the puck in the slot and beating Gibson with a quick wrister. It was Mayfield’s first goal of the season and first since Apr. 8. Mayfield was the penalized player on DeBrincat’s winner.

Islanders defensemen accounted for 25 of the 52 shot attempts.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders return home to host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.