Islanders again lose third-period lead, fall to Flames in shootout

Eleven one-goal games already this season. Ten that have gone past regulation.

And six games in which the Islanders have lost a lead in the third period, including two in a row.

Those are not necessarily categories in which NHL teams seek consistency.

This time it was a 2-1 shootout loss to the Flames on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome that left the Islanders lamenting would’ve-beens and could’ve-beens.

Focus on the positive of earning a point, leaving the Islanders (7-7-5) at 1-1-2 on this five-game road trip that concludes in Detroit on Thursday night? Or be frustrated because the Flames (10-6-3) tied it on defenseman Rasmus Andersson’s power-play goal at 8:17 of the third period with defenseman Scott Mayfield in the penalty box for tripping?

“It probably goes back and forth,” Brock Nelson told Newsday. “They get the timely power-play goal to tie it up. We got the point, you’d like to get two. You can look at both sides. It’s still disappointing.

“To play good games and not get rewarded is frustrating but you’ve got to learn from it and turn it into a winning streak.”

It’s not that the Islanders, who lost 3-2 in Seattle on Saturday, sat back with the lead as they were outshot 14-13 in the third period. That included Dustin Wolf (28 saves) sliding over to rob Kyle Palmieri with under five minutes to play. Then, the Islanders were unable to capitalize on a power play that lasted the final 1:07 of overtime that saw defenseman Noah Dobson hit the crossbar.

Andrei Kuzmenko and Justin Kirkland beat Semyon Varlamov (30 saves) in the shootout.

“Well, we got a point, which is a good thing,” Varlamov said. “We could have won the game. I thought we played a good, solid game. Our power play in overtime had a great chance to finish the game. Unfortunately, it couldn’t and it cost us the game.”

“It was a hard-fought game, both teams played very well,” coach Patrick Roy said. “There was not much room on the ice in the first and the second. In the third, it opens up a little bit more. We had our chances, we just didn’t finish. It’s a point and I wish we had more than one point.”

The Islanders had been controlling the third period before Mayfield’s penalty. Andersson connected on a one-timer off a feed from Nazem Kadri, with Varlamov appearing to anticipate a shot from the former rather than the latter.

“That was a broken play,” Varlamov said. “I was a little bit out of position on that one.”

The Islanders opened the scoring at 1:32 of the second period as Pierre Engvall matched his career high with a goal in his third straight game. Mayfield got the puck to Engvall in the high slot and he toe-dragged the puck around defenseman Danil Miromanov for a rising wrist shot.

But Wolf prevented the Islanders from expanding their lead. “I think we were pressuring pretty hard and playing in the offensive zone a lot,” Engvall said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the second one. I think we played a pretty good game with a lot of chances and solid defensively.”

“Just bearing down,” Dobson said when asked what prevented the Islanders from notching a second goal. “Our second period was just OK. There wasn’t a whole lot out there both ways. It was a little sloppy. I thought in the third period we had lots of great looks. We just didn’t capitalize. We’ve got to find a way to get that second one and extend the lead when we have those one-goal leads.”

Notes & quotes: Defenseman Alexander Romanov logged 21:04 with a game-high eight hits as he returned to the Islanders’ lineup after missing the last seven games and 10 of 11 with an upper-body injury . . . Flames right wing Matt Coronato of Greenlawn had three shots in 18:10 in his first game against the team he grew up rooting for . . . Dobson blocked a game-high five shots . . . Defensemen Grant Hutton and Travis Mitchell and forward Hudson Fasching were the healthy scratches . . . Former Flames coach Brent Sutter, who won two Stanley Cups with the Islanders and was recently selected for induction into the team’s hall of fame in January, attended the game.

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.