The New York Islanders carried a slim 1-0 lead into the third period on Tuesday but failed to hold on, falling 2-1 to the Calgary Flames in a shootout.
Here’s how it happened:
The Islanders started with offensive zone time, and Anders Lee managed to draw a penalty just 26 seconds into the game.
However, New York did not get a shot on the power play.
The first major opportunity for any team came with 12 minutes left when Anders Lee found Bo Horvat behind the Calgary defense, but the young Dustin Wolf denied the shot.
The rest of the period was low-key, with few to zero chances, except for when the puck bounced itself to Anders Lee alone in front of the net.
Lee quickly swept it on goal, but Wolf made the save along the ice, with Horvat unable to hop on the rebound before it was swiped away.
Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov, who has now won three straight games, was strong in the first and had to be strong to start the second as he stopped a point-blank chance from Mikael Backlund.
Just a minute later, at 1:32 of the second, Pierre Engvall scored his third goal in his last three games to open the scoring. Scott Mayfield passed him the puck across the blue line and Engvall skated up, did a little drag around a defender and picked his spot in the top right corner of the net.
After not scoring in his first eight games since being called up from Bridgeport, he has now scored one goal in each of his last three games. This is the third time in his career he has done this and his second time scoring in three straight with the Islanders.
Horvat gave New York their second-man advantage of the game after drawing a tripping call with just over half the period remaining.
They got one shot this time.
Simon Holmstrom had a prime opportunity in the slot, but Wolf made the save. That was it, as the Flames kept the Islanders to one shot through two powerplays.
Calgary showed some momentum from the penalty kill, but Varlamov and the defense in front of him held strong.
The Islanders spent a large chunk of the remainder of the period inside their own zone but rarely let any prime opportunities get to the net.
As time was winding down, Daniil Miromanov had a great chance from the slot, but Jean-Gabriel PAageau laid his body down and blocked the shot right in front of Varlamov.
In the third period, the Islanders and Flames were both sloppy, with Wolf continuing to steal the show, robbing Horvat a few times.
After Scott Mayfield took a tripping penalty at 6:32 of the third, Rasmus Andersson scored on a one-timer to the the game at 1-1 at 8:17 of the third:
Casey Cizikas was interfered with by Yegor Sharangovich in the slot, but the Islanders didn’t get the call.
The Flames found their game in the third, pestering Varlamov, who rose to the occassion.
His right skate save on Marcus Backlund at 17:05 of the third saved the game, allowing for overtime.
After the Flames dominated most of overtime, Nelson came flying of the bench leading to a tripping penalty by Backlund at 3:53 of overtime.
The Islanders failed to come through on the power play, with Dobson ringing the cross-bar on a one-time chance.
In the shootout, Yegor Sharangovich and Kyle Palmieri missed, before Andre Kuzmenko gave the Flames the lead.
Then Justin Kirkland scored to end the game.
The Islanders power play went 0-for-3, with the only goal they allowed being a Flames power-play goal.
