Islanders dominated by Kraken in first two periods of ugly loss

The Islanders’ difficulties in protecting third-period leads have led to bad losses this season.

But their lopsided 5-2 loss to the Kraken on Thursday night at UBS Arena felt different and much worse.

“They were faster,” coach Patrick Roy said. “They were moving well.”

The Islanders started poorly, not finding their game until they trailed by four goals in the third period. They lost puck battles. They struggled with puck possession and lapsed in defensive coverage. They couldn’t score on a four-minute power play that bridged the second and third periods, finishing 0-for-3 on the man advantage (the Kraken were 2-for-2).

“It wasn’t good enough,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “It felt like we just weren’t quite connected tonight. We were slow reacting at times. We dug ourselves a hole. They were doing a good job of rimming pucks in the offensive zone and we weren’t able to end their plays.”

Goalie Ilya Sorokin, not at fault but not sharp enough in stopping only nine of 13 shots, was pulled after two periods in favor of Marcus Hogberg, an emergency recall from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He stopped all 11 shots he faced in his first NHL action since April 28, 2021.

It matched the largest margin of defeat this season for the Islanders (9-11-7), now in a 2-5-3 slump.

“Two goals on deflections and maybe I should have had better position,” Sorokin said. “Yeah, the first two [periods] were disappointing.”

Joey Daccord made 27 saves for the Kraken (13-13-1). He was denied a shutout when defenseman Noah Dobson made it 4-1 at 11:57 of the third period. Maxim Tsyplakov cut it to 4-2 at 15:37 with Hogberg pulled for an extra skater, but Jaden Schwartz clinched it with an empty-netter.

Roy’s message to the players after they were booed off the ice entering the second intermission was that they needed to respond.

“Any time you’re down 4-0, things are not going your way,” defenseman Grant Hutton said. “The third period was important for us in front of our home fans. We might not have gotten there all the way, but we needed to show a little bit of push. Too little too late, and we gave them too much early.

“I feel like our biggest issue tonight was just not being on our toes enough and closing in the defensive zone. It’s not like they were skating pucks in up the middle and causing a bunch of issues. They were getting possession and rimming pucks low and we weren’t able to cut those players off. Once they start roaming around, it’s a snowball effect and guys get fatigued.”

The Kraken led 2-0 after one period as Tye Kartye at 2:48 and Oliver Bjorkstrand on the power play at 16:58 both tipped shots from defenseman Vince Dunn. Dunn then skated around Pierre Engvall into the slot to make it 3-0 at 3:55 of the second period and Shane Wright’s power-play goal at 13:05 pushed it to 4-0.

Engvall, who is in the second season of a seven-year, $21 million deal and who started the season with Bridgeport as an intended wake-up call, had been a healthy scratch the previous two games. Roy reinserted him on Brock Nelson’s second line with Kyle Palmieri with the implicit message to get to the crease and play more aggressively.

He did not, and by the second period, he was skating with fourth-line center Casey Cizikas.

“Do I have to answer that?” Roy said after a lengthy pause when asked if he saw the things he wanted out of Engvall. “I didn’t see the spark I was hoping to see. I’ll leave it at this.”

Notes & quotes: The Islanders held a moment of silence before the game to remember Massapequa senior Connor Kasin, 17, who died Saturday while playing in a charity hockey game in Bethpage . . . Pulock’s primary assist on Tsyplakov’s goal was his 200th career point . . . Goalie Semyon Varlamov (lower body/day-to-day) was unavailable for the second time in four days. “Short term for now,” Roy said. “We’ll see how it goes.” . . . Defenseman Adam Pelech (jaw/injured reserve), who missed his 16th game since Nov. 1, rejoined his teammates for Thursday’s morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey and a full face shield.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.