Islanders fall to Oilers in overtime on Leon Draisaitl's goal
Ilya Sorokin, Adam Pelech and Casey Cizikas of the Islanders defend the net late during the second period against Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers at UBS Arena on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders did little wrong other than not score enough. But with their mathematical path to any long-shot playoff push getting tougher and tougher, there is no margin for error.
So gaining just one point was not enough.
Despite an energetic effort and a brilliant outing by goalie Ilya Sorokin, their 2-1 overtime loss to the Oilers and Leon Draisaitl on Friday night at UBS Arena definitely felt like a gut punch.
“Hard-fought game. It was tight out there,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We had a big goal in the third to tie things up. It was too bad we couldn’t get the extra point.”
The Islanders (29-28-8), who have lost three straight, are four points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with 17 games remaining. With the Rangers and Blue Jackets — tied with 70 points, with the latter holding the tiebreaker for the last postseason position — playing Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, the Islanders will be two points further away when they host the Stanley Cup champion Panthers on Sunday night.
“You want the extra point, so it definitely feels sour,” said struggling Pierre Engvall, who played perhaps his best game of the season with four shots in 15:36, including two on two strong shifts in overtime. “But we can only get back here next game and get two points in that one.”
Draisaitl won it with his second goal at 3:53 of overtime.
Engvall and Casey Cizikas had chances to win it and the Islanders gutted out the first shift of overtime as Simon Holmstrom’s stick broke and defenseman Adam Pelech was hobbled after using his right leg to block defenseman Evan Bouchard’s blast.
“Everyone battled,” said Pelech, who did not play another shift but said he was OK. “We’re always going to battle, no matter what. We’re never down. It was good to keep the puck out of the net for a while but unfortunately, we couldn’t pull out the win.”
Sorokin made 33 saves and Calvin Pickard stopped 24 shots for the Oilers (38-24-4), who had lost the first two games of their four-game trip, including 3-2 to the Devils on Thursday night.
Draisaitl beat Sorokin with a slap shot from the top of the left circle to open the scoring at 8:46 of the second period. He extended his point streak to 17 games, tied for the longest in the NHL this season, and has 49 goals and 100 points.
“I think we played a good game against a very strong team,” Sorokin said of the Oilers, who lost to the Panthers in last year’s Stanley Cup Final in seven games. “They had two really good shots and they scored. He’s a very dangerous player. I had a chance but he was better. It’s hard because his shot is so quick.”
Sorokin kept the slow-starting Islanders in the game with 17 first-period saves.
“We were really good in the first,” Draisaitl said. “Their goalie made some really good saves.”
Bo Horvat tied it at 1-1 at 1:21 of the third period, finishing his rush with a wrist shot after blocking the puck in the defensive zone.
But the Islanders have scored only three goals in three games.
“Technically, it’s five,” corrected coach Patrick Roy. The Islanders had two potential power-play goals overturned because of goalie-interference challenges in Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Kings to conclude a three-game California trip.
Notes & quotes: Maxim Tsyplakov said he had no issue with Roy chastising him publicly for turning the puck over twice on the sequence that led to the Kings’ second goal. “It’s my mistake for the second goal,” Tsyplakov said in his first comments since the game. “I need to be better on the puck and probably more safe. I understand, he doesn’t like my turnovers.” Tsyplakov logged 11:33 with two giveaways against the Oilers while playing on Kyle MacLean’s fourth line with Marc Gatcomb. Roy said he liked the way his Russian rookie responded to his criticism . . . Defensemen Mike Reilly and Scott Perunovich and forward Matt Martin remained the healthy scratches . . . Defenseman Adam Boqvist is out with an upper-body injury . . . The Islanders’ previous 18 losses had all come in regulation. Their last overtime loss was Dec. 3.
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.
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