Islanders Relapse; Lose To Devils In Final Seconds

Newark, NJ– After stringing together a stretch of decent performances in third periods, it seemed the New York Islanders had put their debilitating late-game woes behind them.

That was until Tuesday night at Prudential Center. Against the New Jersey Devils, the Islanders lost in a 5-4 after surrendering three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes, with the decider coming with just 23 seconds remaining in regulation.

“We let it slip away,” Bo Horvat said. “I felt like our periods, as of late, have been a lot better than they were. We just fell right back into it tonight.”

First, it was Jack Hughes’ goal that he scored while left wide open from the right faceoff dot that made the risk of a collapse feel possible. The Islanders had a chance to save themselves with a power play but quickly botched it by taking two penalties of their own. Once Nico Hischier capitalized on the four-on-three advantage, the Islanders’ downfall felt inevitable.

“A lot of it has been stick carelessness,” head coach Lane Lambert said of the penalties that have been a pattern all year for the Islanders. “When it’s four-on-four, we can’t have a careless stick. Next thing you know, the score is tied.”

Curtis Lazar banged in a puck that was loose in Ilya Sorokin‘s crease at 19:37 of the period for the game-winner. Sorokin made 28 of 33 saves in goal.

The collapse to the Devils is just the latest of many for the Islanders this season. According to Ethan Sears of the NY Post, the Islanders have lost nine times where they have either given up the game-winner in the third period or allowed the game to be tied and lost in overtime.

“I think it’s just a mindset, really,” Horvat said. “[It comes down to] not sitting back, keeping our foot on the gas and playing in their end.”

Horvat opened the game with a power-play goal by driving home a one-timer off of assists from Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal.

Barzal’s had three points in the game. He and Cal Clutterbuck scored 1:14 apart in the second. Barzal then capped off the period with a no-look helper on Jean-Gabriel Pageau‘s first goal of the season, which chased Devils starting goalie Vitek Vanecek from the game.

“That’s really what I’m thinking about right now, to be honest,” Pageau said when asked about the goal. “I like when we’re winning.”

Losing likely wasn’t the way defenseman Mike Reilly envisioned his Islanders debut.

Reilly was on the ice for two of the Devils goals. His turnover in the neutral zone directly led to Michael McLeod’s goal, which tied the game at 1-1 in the first period.

Dawson Mercer grabbed the advantage for New Jersey to open second before the Islanders took it back. Of course, though, it went home with the Devils at night’s end.

The loss snapped a six-game point streak for the Islanders, dropping their record to 8-7-6 to begin a three-game road trip.

As they roll into Carolina on Thursday, the Islanders are hoping tonight’s result is just one game slip-up and not a sign of a full-blown relapse.

Notes: The Islanders activated Matt Martin off injured reserve but did not dress him for the game against the Devils. He has now missed the last six games…Hudson Fasching remains stuck on 99 career NHL games after being made a healthy scratch for the second game in a row…Samuel Bolduc was passed over in the lineup in favor of Reilly and Grant Hutton.