Connor Ingram made 17 saves for the Oilers (23-17-8), who had earned points in their previous five games (3-0-2).
“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Ingram said. “That’s probably one that the people who want 6-5 games hate, but I thought it was a good hockey game.
“Some days, the passes are going to go your way and sometimes they’re not. We hit two posts pretty hard in the third period and that’s the difference.”
Connor McDavid’s point streak ended at a career-high 20 games with 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) since the streak began on Dec. 4.
“I’m very happy with our team’s effort and execution,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Ingram played really well and made some big saves, especially early in the game.
“We had a lot of good scoring chances 5-on-5, on the power play and 6-on-5. We did pretty much everything but put the puck in the net.”
Shots were tied 12-12 in the first period, while the Oilers outshot the Islanders 13-4 in the second. The Islanders didn’t register a shot in the first 12:55 of the third period and had just six shots on goal over the final two periods.
Just 32 seconds into the third period, the Oilers thought Evan Bouchard put them ahead 1-0 on the power play, taking a cross-ice feed to the left dot from out of the opposite corner by Leon Draisaitl, and sending a wrist shot through the legs of Sorokin. The puck hit the inside post and bounced out, with video review confirming the call on the ice of no goal.
Duclair put the Islanders ahead 1-0 on the power play at 13:42 of the third period. Calum Ritchie got the puck at the left post before spinning into a backhand pass into the slot for Duclair, who beat Ingram glove side.
“It feels great, a great confidence booster for sure. We’re not too worried about his (McDavid’s) point streak, we’re just trying to play solid defensively,” Duclair said. “We know these guys are pretty solid and they’re going to get looks, it doesn’t matter how well you play, but I think when Sorokin is playing that way it gives us so much confidence back there and I think we did a great job.
“Our D did a great job of stepping up, especially when they are coming through the neutral zone with so much speed and I think defensively we did a great job.”
It was the Islanders’ first power-play goal in six games, after going 0-for-7 in that span.
“We talk about the power play each and every day and how we can improve on it,” Duclair said. “Those are the types of games we need to bury our chances.
“We’re not getting too many calls our way, so when we do get an opportunity we want to make sure we capitalize. And that’s what we did.”
With the other assist on the goal, Mathew Barzal recorded his 500th career point.
“I’m moreso a passer my entire career, so a lot of credit to my teammates for putting the puck in the back of the net,” Barzal said. “It takes a lot of people, including my family and everybody, to get to a milestone like that. It’s cool.”
