Islanders fall to Calgary in overtime, but earn a point

The Islanders needed just a solid two minutes, 51 seconds to bank another crucial two points as they scramble for a playoff spot.

Instead, after taking a short-lived lead  in the third period, they lost it just 29 seconds later and, after losing 4-3 in overtime to the Flames on Saturday at UBS Arena, earned only one point. The Islanders didn’t think it was a lack of intensity or urgency.

Still, it was a costly slip.

“You put yourselves up with two minutes to go, that one stings,” said Bo Horvat, who could not net his second straight overtime winner as his backhander at the crease was stopped shortly before Nazem Kadri finished a rush the other way at 3:53 of overtime.

“It’s good to get a point out of it but, at the end of the day, we needed as many points as possible. We’ve got to try to close that one out.”

So the Islanders (32-28-9), who had a three-game winning streak snapped but are still on a 3-0-2 run and are 10-2-2 at home since Jan. 18, slipped one point behind the victorious Rangers with both teams trying to catch the Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Two games remain on their four-game homestand, including on Monday night against their fellow wild-card pursuer Blue Jackets. The Islanders were also one point behind the Canadiens, who they defeated 4-3 in overtime at UBS Arena on Thursday, before Montreal hosted the Avalanche on Saturday night.

Marcus Hogberg, getting his first start in six games as Ilya Sorokin has backboned the Islanders’ push, stopped 31 shots. Greenlawn’s Matt Coronato scored twice in his first NHL game on Long Island, including 36 seconds into the game, and Dan Vladar made 26 saves for the Flames (33-25-11).

Vladar gloved defenseman Ryan Pulock’s hard shot from the slot with 13.5 seconds left in regulation to ensure overtime.

“I thought we played hard,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “They played hard. There wasn’t a whole lot of space. They had a great second period, they had a push. I thought we had a great third. But we’ve got to find a way with a one-goal lead with a couple of minutes left to close that out.”

Kyle MacLean, open on the left, knocked in the rebound of Maxim Tsyplakov’s initial shot to put the Islanders ahead 3-2 at 17:09 of the third period.

But Jonathan Huberdeau, in the low slot, deflected defenseman Rasmus Andersson’s shot from the right point to tie it at 3-3 at 17:38.

It was, for the most part, an evenly-played match as the Islanders were better in the first and third periods and the Flames controlled the second. But two sloppy shifts — the game’s first and on Huberdeau’s equalizer — ultimately cost the Islanders their coveted second point.

“You don’t want to get ahead of yourself but, at that point of the game, maybe,” said MacLean of potentially netting the winner with his first goal in 16 games. “It was nice to score but we wanted that two points and I think we all know in here we let it slip a little.

“They played a good game and I think, all game, maybe we weren’t, at times, matching that. Maybe, at the end of the day, they got their bounce and it went in and maybe they deserve that.”

Horvat tied it at 1-1 with an open look from the left at 10:46 of the first period and Marc Gatcomb, off Tsyplakov’s feed on the rush, made it 2-1 at 17:41 of the first period. Coronato scored his second goal at 6:03 of the second period.

Notes & quotes: Horvat skated in his 800th NHL game and won 12 of 16 faceoffs . . . Huberdeau played in his 900th . . . Defenseman Scott Mayfield was a healthy scratch for the first time in five games as Alexander Romanov returned to the lineup after missing two games because of illness. Romanov logged 23:04 with three blocked shots, two giveaways and no shots on net. “Mmmm, OK,” coach Patrick Roy said of Romanov’s performance. “It’s tough when you’re sick and you’re coming back. I thought he was just OK.”  . . . Defensemen Adam Boqvist and Scott Perunovich and forward Matt Martin remained healthy scratches.

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.