Islanders overpowered
Montreal capitalizes on weak penalty kill to hand N.Y. 4-2 loss
A new game, the same old set of issues and another loss for the Islanders.
They got the power play fixed, scoring twice to snap an 0-for-24 drought. But the Islanders’ dismal penalty kill, which came into Sunday ranked last in the NHL, allowed two key goals in the final 3:46 of the second period in a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens.
It was the Islanders’ fourth consecutive loss, sending them home from a weeklong road trip without a point.
“Once those goals get going in, it’s obviously frustrating,” said Josh Bailey, who went without a point for a seventh consecutive game. “But being frustrated doesn’t lead to better play. It’s a fine line you’ve got to walk where you use it as motivation and not as something to hurt you.”
Michael Grabner made an alarming play in the second that set the wheels of defeat in motion. With the score even at 1-1, Grabner corralled the puck near his blue line and, with no one around him, tried to flip it high off the glass. The puck went into the Bell Centre seats for a delayof-game minor and the Canadiens’ third-ranked power play went to work.
Alex Galchenyuk snapped a seam pass through the penalty-kill box right to Lars Eller for a one-timer past Kevin Poulin to put the Canadiens in front at 16:14.
Just 22 seconds
later, Thomas Hickey had his stick lifted by Brian Gionta right into Gionta’s nose for a seemingly unwarranted fourminute minor. The Islanders killed off the first half, but rookie Michael Bournival deflected Raphael Diaz’s shot past Poulin with 55.9 seconds left in the period for a twogoal deficit.
The Islanders’ penaltykill has allowed 16 goals in 59 times short, 72.9 percent effectiveness.
Other games
Devils 5, Predators 0: Jaromir Jagr put New Jersey ahead 1:30 into the game to become the eighth player in NHL history with 1,700 career points and Martin Brodeur stopped all 15 shots he faced in a shutout win against visiting Florida.
Rangers 4, Panthers 3: Brad Richards scored 46 seconds into the third period to break a 2-2 tie, then Mats Zuccarello netted a goal almost five minutes later to lift host New York to a win against Florida, which has lost nine in a row.
Blackhawks 5, Oilers 4: Bryan Bickell, Marcus Kruger and Duncan Keith each scored in the third period of Chicago’s victory against visiting Edmonton.
Ducks 3, Canucks 1: Rookie goalie Frederik Andersen won for the sixth time in as many NHL games, making 35 saves in place of ailing Jonas Hiller, and league-leading Anaheim extended its winning streak to five with a victory against visiting Vancouver.
Avalanche 4, Capitals 1: Semyon Varlamov stopped 33 shots and Nick Holden scored his first NHL goal to break a second-period tie, lifting host Colorado past Washington.
Jets 5, Sharks 4: Andrew Ladd scored the tying goal and the only goal in a shootout as host Winnipeg edged San Jose. Ladd scored at 18:17 in the third, his fifth of this season.