Islanders can't escape from 3-1 first-period hole in loss to Flames
Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, left, is checked by Flames forward Dillon Dube during the third period of an NHL game Friday in Calgary, Alberta. Credit: The Canadian Press via AP/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY, Alberta — It was another loss after another troublesome first period on a lost road trip highlighted by the surprising loss of Mathew Barzal, their top playmaker.
Bad night.
Bad week for the Islanders.
“The results weren’t great, but I didn’t think we started the game bad,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We had a couple of individual turnovers that ended up in the back of our net. We didn’t start the game bad but they scored three goals on [six] shots.”
Barzal was a late scratch with a lower-body injury and the Islanders lost to the Flames, 4-1, on Friday night at Scotiabank Arena to conclude a 1-3-0 western swing.
“It’s really disappointing,” Zach Parise said. “When you go on road trips, you want to at least get .500. That’s the worst-case scenario and, unfortunately, we couldn’t come through with that. But I thought we played a much better game tonight than we did last night. The looks were there.”
Barzal was listed as day-to-day after Lambert said he suffered a “tweak” in Thursday night’s 4-2 loss in Edmonton. The injury comes at an incredibly inopportune time because Barzal is playing his best hockey of the season. He has a career-high five-game goal streak with six goals and two assists in that span.
“The guy’s been playing great hockey,” said Parise, who cut the Islanders’ deficit to 3-1 with 59.2 seconds left in the first period on a rising wrist shot. “So yeah, of course, you find out right before the game he’s not going to be in, it can be deflating. But we’ve had a lot of guys injured. It’s that mentality of whoever is in, do your job and compete. We did that. But it’s tough to replace what he does offensively for us.”
Semyon Varlamov, who injured his groin on Dec. 17, returned to make 17 saves for the Islanders (22-17-2), still clinging to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots for the Flames (19-14-7), denying Casey Cizikas and then Jean-Gabriel Pageau shorthanded on second-period breakaways 40 seconds apart.
But the Islanders went 4-for-4 on the road trip in being either outplayed or outscored in the first period. The Oilers outshot them 18-4 and outscored them 2-0 on Thursday. The Canucks led by a goal before the Islanders rallied for a 6-2 win on Tuesday. The Kraken were dominant from start to finish in the Islanders’ 4-1 loss to open the trip.
“I thought we were a little better, to be honest,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “If you look at the big picture, I thought we were a little better. I think it could have been a little different game. Just a couple of little mistakes. A few breakaways, if we score on, it might change the game.”
Milan Lucic made it 1-0 at 4:36 on a rising blast from the right circle after defenseman Scott Mayfield’s turnover.
Varlamov showed his rust as Blake Coleman got his own rebound to the forehand and beat him on a sharp-angle shot from the goalie’s right at 6:05 of the first period.
Nazem Kadri connected from an even sharper angle, also to Varlamov’s right, as the Flames took a 4-1 lead at 6:59 of the third period.
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov had snaked a shot from the blue line through traffic to push it to 3-0 at 14:21 of the first period.
“Tonight there were some good things but not the result we were looking for,” Josh Bailey said. “We’ll go back home and reset. We have a homestand, we want to make the most of that.”
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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