Recap: Maple Leafs 4, Islanders 3 (SO)

The New York Islanders felt they left a couple of goals on the table in Thursday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Twice they got a puck through Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen only to hit the post when they were leading 2-1. On another third-period chance, a point shot wound up behind Andersen, only to flutter an inch wide.
Those were three chances for the Islanders to break open the game, but instead, they surrendered a crucial shootout point.

"There's points in the game where we could have added to our lead a bit where it's close off the post or just not going quite our way," Ryan Pulock said. "It's definitely frustrating. Then to give up that lead and not be able to finish and get the extra point is tough, but there are a lot of things we can build off."
Adding to the frustration of the near misses was how the Maple Leafs tied the score, as Auston Matthews tipped a Jake Gardiner shot that deflected off Nick Leddy and past Jaroslav Halak with 3:29 to play.
"We had four or five [chances] to go three up, two up and they didn't go in," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "He made some huge saves. They throw a puck to the net, it bangs around and hits Leddy and goes in."

Ryan Pulock opened the scoring at 8:39 and the Isles never trailed in regulation. Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists - giving him 65 points and the team scoring lead - while Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves, including a few huge stops during a heart-pounding overtime.
"You're not going to win every game you outplay a team, and not that it was lopsided, but I thought we deserved better," Weight said.
In the end, it came down to a shootout with only Toronto's Tyler Bozak lighting the lamp.
"There are some areas we want to clean up a little bit, but overall I thought we played well," said Jordan Eberle, who put the Islanders ahead 3-2 with a shot that caromed off Nikita Zaitsev's skate and in. "We got a point, obviously we needed the two."
Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game:

1. STANDINGS IMPLICATIONS:

The Islanders gained a point in the shootout loss, upping their total to 65 this season. That ties them with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the Blue Jackets hold a game in hand and therefore occupy the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus lost 2-1 to Philadelphia in regulation on Thursday, so the Isles would have leapfrogged them with a win. Carolina, who were idle Thursday, lurk one point behind with two games in hand.

2. BARZAL TAKES OVER TEAM SCORING LEAD:

Mathew Barzal delivered another stellar performance Thursday night, surpassing John Tavares for the Islanders scoring lead with a three-point game.
Barzal picked up a secondary helper on Ryan Pulock's scorching icebreaker, dropping a pass back to Thomas Hickey to set the wheels in motion for Pulock's blast. Anthony Beauvillier knocked the puck away from Andersen to Barzal in front of the net for an easy backhander and Barzal's 17th goal of the season. Finally, Barzal picked up the primary helper on Eberle's 21st of the season to finish his contributions to the scoresheet.
The rookie also nearly ended the game with a partial breakaway in overtime, cutting to the net and looking to go five-hole on Andersen.
"He was controlling the play from early onset of the game," Weight said. "He wants the puck and he does it - and he knows it. He controlled the game. That line was really good."
The three-point night was also his 14th multi-point game of the season - third most on the Islanders behind John Tavares and Josh Bailey. Barzal moved within two assists of tying Stefan Persson (50 assists) for second most assists by an Islanders rookie.

3. PULOCK SHOWS MORE PROMISE:

Ryan Pulock opened the scoring at 8:39 of the first period, beating Andersen with a scud missile that was in and out of the net fast enough to fool the crowd at the ACC.
The goal was Pulock's sixth of the season and moved him into sole possession of second in goals among rookie defensemen, trailing only Tampa's Mikhail Sergachev.
"I thought he was just really, really good. In all zones. He's starting to become a real stud," Weight said. "Pulie's been one of our best defensemen in the past month and it's been on a consistent basis defending, moving the puck out, breaking the puck out and obviously with his weapon he's starting to shoot the puck and have that assertiveness and confidence."

POSTGAME VIDEO: