Islanders pick up another point  in shootout loss to Bruins

It was a good, entertaining, very long hockey game to end a good, entertaining season-high six-game homestand.

And Friday night’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins, which uncharacteristically clocked in just shy of three hours, showcased both the good and the not-so-good in the Islanders’ game.

They couldn’t make a two-goal lead in the second period last until the second intermission. They couldn’t hold two one-goal leads in the third period, representing the 11th and 12th times this season they blew a lead in the final period. They were 2-for-4 on the power play, including skating four-on-three for the first 1:43 of overtime. They were 0-for-3 on the penalty kill.

But the Islanders (14-7-8) completed a more-than-satisfactory 4-0-2 homestand and are 9-1-5 since Nov. 15.

“It was just a good hockey game, back and forth,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We put together a pretty good, solid 60 [minutes]. It’s unfortunate we don’t find a way to get two points tonight.”

David Pastrnak scored the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout against Ilya Sorokin (30 saves). Linus Ullmark made 33 saves for the Bruins (19-5-4).

“We did the best we could,” Anders Lee said of the homestand. “We obviously gave away one [5-4 overtime loss to the Sharks in the first game]. But tonight we played a great hockey game .  .  . It just doesn’t go our way in the shootout.”

The Islanders will play their first road game since Dec. 2 on Saturday night in Montreal.

“Regroup,” Lee said. “Proud of what we did. Got a big one tomorrow and let’s just focus on how we’re playing. That’s going to give us more results in the long run is continuing the play we have the last few weeks.”

“We played well,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Our penalty kill gave up three power-play goals. That was basically the difference in the game.”

Morgan Geekie and Pastrnak had second-period power-play goals for the Bruins to tie the score at 2-2 after Julien Gauthier was called for tripping and the Islanders were caught with too many men.

Bo Horvat, who extended his point streak to nine games to match his career high with a goal and two assists, regained a 3-2 lead for the Islanders at 5:06 of the third period with a power-play goal from the slot.

James van Riemsdyk tied it again at 3-3 at 10:48 as he deflected defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk’s power-play blast from the left point.

“It was sad we can’t win this game. The team played really good tonight,” Sorokin said. “Their power play is good for passes and shots. It’s simple and it works.”

Brock Nelson’s power-play goal at 12:01, after he drew a hook on Charlie Coyle, gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead. But defenseman Mason Lohrei banked in another equalizer off Sorokin from a sharp angle in the left corner at 16:51.

“We played well and are playing well and have to continue to play well,” Lambert said of the homestand. “We had some success. You get into extra time and it’s sometimes a little bit of a crapshoot in the shootout.”

The Islanders did win two games in overtime on the homestand. They also had a two-goal lead in the second period of their 4-3 comeback win over the Ducks on Wednesday.

Defenseman Alexander Romanov opened the scoring Friday with a shot from the top of the left circle at 1:42 of the second period and Simon Holmstrom finished off a rush with Jean-Gabriel Pageau to make it 2-0 at 13:26 of the second.

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.