This was the return to regular, and with it got here the return to regular outdated controversies, regular outdated frustrations and regular outdated losses.
Effectively, possibly not so regular a loss, since such a factor — you will have forgotten — is a rarity for these Islanders.
This 4-3 defeat to the Stars on Sunday evening at UBS Enviornment got here with, and in no small half due to, a kind of common outdated Sport 56 messes, this one after Casey Cizikas was hit with a match penalty for a success to the top on Lian Bichsel at 13:26 of the second interval. Along with a complete lot of anger on the Islanders bench and an ejection (and potential suspension) for Cizikas, the next Stars energy play additionally triggered targets two and three of a Jason Robertson hat trick and a two-goal Islanders deficit that turned decisive.
For good measure, there was a goalie interference controversy after Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s obvious tying objective was waved off with 4:52 left because of Pierre Engvall pushing Matt Dumba into Jake Oettinger.
That one, the Islanders weren’t so keen on litigating after the very fact, with coach Patrick Roy conceding the decision on Engvall was appropriate.
The penalty on Cizikas, not a lot.
“I thought it hit the chest before the head,” Roy stated. “So it’s unfortunate to see someone be hurt, we don’t want to see that happening. But at the same time, I thought that was chest first. That’s my opinion.”
“We saw the replay on the bench there. We didn’t think it was high at all,” Anthony Duclair stated. “We thought it was a clean hit.”
Kyle Palmieri struck again a mere seven seconds after Robertson opened his account to make it 2-1 to Dallas 8:48 into the second — taking Tony DeAngelo’s feed all the best way and scoring off-balance — earlier than the sport was upended when Cizikas’ shoulder linked with Bichsel’s head slightly over 4 minutes later.
A subsequent three-minute energy play for the Stars — lowered from 5 after Dumba was hit with an instigating name for combating Cizikas — produced a complete slew of occasions the Islanders would moderately neglect.
After possessing the puck for everything of the two-minute four-on-four with out taking pictures, the Islanders allowed a objective nearly as quickly as they misplaced possession on the penalty kill, with Robertson scoring from Roope Hintz on a fast passing sequence.
Robertson did so once more earlier than the key penalty expired, stuffing in Wyatt Johnston’s rebound to make it 4-2 Dallas.
“We get the five-minute [major] and they get two [goals],” DeAngelo stated. “Special teams games happen all the time and you gotta start coming out the other end of them.”
The Islanders did at the very least go down combating, with Anthony Duclair breaking a seven-game scoreless streak to tug them inside 4-3 at 9:17 of the third.
Pageau appeared to have tied it with a shot from the slot with just below 5 minutes left in regulation, however the roar from the UBS crowd turned to jeers on the referees in brief order when the objective was instantly waved off for interference.
That — and Brock Nelson’s probability that was saved by a diving Oettinger at six-on-five — proved the final, finest pair of appears in an onslaught of a 3rd interval.
Shut, no cigar, and a five-point hole to the playoff cutline smacking the Islanders within the face after a two-week break from the playoff race.
The very best information the Islanders bought Sunday got here within the morning, when it was confirmed that Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield would return to the lineup.
That bumped Adam Boqvist to being a wholesome scratch, however lastly took the protection out of disaster mode.
If a gradual first interval on Sunday was the worth the Islanders needed to pay to get two free weeks of restoration for a again finish that was in triage when the break began — and their first interval was rusty — it was in all probability worthwhile.
That, at the very least, was not what the Islanders had been lamenting on the finish of the evening.
“Thought we played a really good 50 minutes to be honest,” DeAngelo stated. “It’s a shame. A game I thought we could at least get a point out of. That’s frustrating but gotta bounce back next game.”
