THIRD AND WRONG
Final period does Isles in again
Maybe the Islanders should start thinking about going into the final period down by a goal.
Because lately, being tied — or even ahead — after two isn’t working out.
The Isles tossed another potential win away Thursday, surrendering a pair of leads in a 5-4 loss to the Blackhawks at Barclays Center.
First, the Isles saw an early 2-0 advantage disappear almost as quickly as it came. Then, they couldn’t hold a 4-3 lead in the second.
Thanks to their presence at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, they know these are opportunities they can’t afford to let slip away — even against Chicago, which has won three in a row and has the most points in the NHL.
“We’re 100 percent aware,” John Tavares said after a third straight loss. “We’ve obviously put ourselves in a hole and we’ve got to win these games. The last three games we’ve at least been tied going into the third. … You’re not gonna win hockey games if you don’t win third periods.”
The deciding goal came at 13:37 of the third after Dennis Seidenberg turned the puck over and Richard Panik was left open in front of the net, where he beat Thomas Greiss.
It was a disappointing ending to a game in which the Islanders squandered an early two-goal lead almost as quickly as they got it.
Andrew Ladd notched just his fourth goal of the season at 2:14 in the first to put the Islanders up 1-0. Less than two minutes later, Casey Cizikas made it 2-0, pouncing on a rebound off a Nikolay Kulemin breakaway.
The Isles appeared to have scored again at 6:36, but Travis Hamonic was called for offsides.
That’s when things began to go downhill — quickly — for the Isles.
Artemi Panarin got the Blackhawks started with a power-play goal at 9:47 after Cizikas was whistled for roughing.
“He should probably show a little more discipline there,” coach Jack Capuano said, before contradicting himself. “But … when you lose a couple games in a row and want to battle for one another, he wanted to show a little desperation in his game. I don’t mind those penalties.”
After a wild first period, it was 3-3 and the Isles took the lead again early in the second, with Anders Lee’s deflection getting by goalie Scott Darling for a 4-3 advantage.
An Artemi Panarin slap shot (his second with the man-advantage) tied it for Chicago. It was the third time in as many chances in which the Isles failed to kill a penalty on the night.
“We played hard even strength,” Capuano said. “It just came down to our power play (0-for-2) wasn’t good enough. Theirs was.”
It was another example of a winnable game the Isles dropped, much like Saturday’s loss at Columbus and Tuesday’s versus Washington.
“It seems like we tighten up,” Lee said. “We play good hockey and then tighten up and they take over.”
They’ll have to shake this latest setback off quickly, with a game in Buffalo on Friday night.
“We’ve got to have a short memory,” Lee said.