There’s loads of examples of the Islanders energy play failing to win them video games this yr.
This was the primary instance of the Islanders energy play actively shedding them a sport.
At five-on-five, the Islanders completely dominated the Blue Jackets on Monday evening — enjoying up ice, forechecking and doing all the proper issues to dismiss a younger, upstart Columbus group and lengthen a five-game factors streak to 6.
At five-on-four, they allowed a shorthanded objective and noticed their momentum get sapped at each flip, letting the Blue Jackets straight again into the sport and opening the door for Columbus to come back again on them, with Adam Fantilli’s shootout winner culminating in a 4-3 collapse at UBS Enviornment.
The loss not solely implies that the Blue Jackets are some extent behind the Islanders within the standings, but it surely additionally prevents the Islanders from shifting forward of the Rangers within the standings and from tying the Canadiens on factors earlier than Montreal faces the Blues on Tuesday.
In different phrases: The Islanders fumbled one in every of their greatest alternatives of the season in a vogue that will make Wile E. Coyote blush.
They constructed an early 2-0 lead and gave the Blue Jackets no quarter at five-on-five, however issues began to go improper as quickly as Damon Severson was known as for tripping Bo Horvat early within the second.
Columbus simply killed off the penalty, and the Islanders’ disjointedness all of the sudden prolonged into even energy.
Shortly thereafter, Fantilli reduce the lead in half with a objective off the frenzy.
The second energy play was even worse, with Boone Jenner tying the sport off a shorthanded rush at 17:13 of the second.
Anders Lee put the Islanders again up 3-2 virtually instantly after the sport went again to even energy, however the harm had been performed and the door had been opened.
Even at five-on-five, the place the Islanders had completely dominated earlier, they had been now pushed again onto their heels.
The Blue Jackets parlayed their momentum to tie the sport up at three with 7:04 to go within the third — this objective at five-on-five — on Kirill Marchenko’s rocket from excessive in the proper circle.
The Islanders thought that they had gained the sport with 8.9 seconds left in regulation when Kyle Palmieri tipped Alexander Romanov’s shot from the left level previous Elvis Merzlikins, however Romanov’s jubilant celebration was reduce quick when the objective was waved off for interference.
A prolonged evaluate confirmed the decision, giving the Islanders extra purpose for upset after a sport that by no means ought to have gotten to that time.
For a second straight time beyond regulation, the Islanders couldn’t provide you with a winner as each groups didn’t capitalize on probabilities earlier than the Blue Jackets took the additional level within the abilities competitors.
The Islanders have come a great distance in two weeks to get again within the race, and that’s nonetheless worthy of applause.
They performed on Monday evening with complete confidence in each side of their sport — besides the facility play, which has been a black gap for the higher a part of three seasons now.
That was sufficient to throw away oodles of momentum off one in every of their finest first intervals of the season and a two-goal lead with it.
The Islanders had been doing all the things proper at five-on-five, and can’t appear to do the very same issues — coming into the zone, retrieving the puck, shifting it across the offensive zone — when the opponent is down a person.
It’s incomprehensible, and to the gamers on the ice as a lot as anybody else.
You could possibly virtually see the arrogance drift from their our bodies on the whistle.
The ability play instantly value the Islanders two factors on Monday.
And it’s not in any respect a stretch to say it may cost a little them the playoffs.
