Isles stumble late in ‘L’
CHICAGO — Artemi Panarin scored with 1:14 left in regulation and then had the clinching goal in the shootout, helping the Blackhawks beat the Islanders 2-1 on Friday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Jonathan Toews also scored in the tiebreaker as Chicago pulled within one point of idle Minnesota for the top spot in the Western Conference. Corey Crawford made 31 saves in his first start since Feb. 23.
After Toews beat Thomas Greiss with a wrist shot, Crawford turned away Joshua Ho-Sang. Patrick Kane was stopped by Greiss and Nikolay Kulemin shot it off the right post before Panarin finished off the victory for the Blackhawks.
“It was a greatly goaltended game by both guys,” Islanders interim coach Doug Weight said. “He saved their bacon just as much as Thomas saved ours.”
Despite the loss, the Islanders still have the second wild card position with 71 points. The Maple Leafs lost 5-2 to the Ducks and have 70 points.
Greiss made 30 stops for the Islanders, and Brock Nelson scored his 14th goal in the second period. The Islanders had won four of five, including a 5-4 victory at Dallas on Thursday night.
“We played a pretty patient game, pretty tight too, but at the end they just pressed hard down,” Greiss said.
The Blackhawks played without center Artem Anisimov due to a lower-body injury, and rookie forward Nick Schmaltz was scratched with an illness.
Greiss made an outstanding pad save on Ryan Hartman in the third and appeared to be heading for his fourth shutout of the season before Panarin drove a one-timer by him on the goaltender’s right side late in the third.
It was Panarin’s first goal since Feb. 10 at Winnipeg and No. 20 on the year.
The Islanders jumped in front moments after killing off a cross-checking penalty on forward Anders Lee in the second. Nelson skated in with Travis Hamonic on a 2-on-1 and shot it between Crawford’s legs at 13:27 for his 14th goal of the season.