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Another point not taken by Islanders

Isles squander late lead in OT loss to Nashville

February 6, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Jaroslav Halak just missed Roman Josi’s game-winning goal in overtime Monday night at Barclays Center as the Islanders suffered a grueling 5-4 loss to the defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators. AP Photo by Kathy Willens
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The Islanders climbed back into a playoff spot Monday night at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

They also gave back a point they sorely needed if they hope to reach the postseason for the second time in three years since relocating to Brooklyn.

“It’s frustrating,” Islanders captain John Tavares admitted after a gut-wrenching 5-4 overtime loss to the defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators in front of 10,217 fans on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

“It’s getting down to crunch time, got a chance to win the game in the last minute,” he added. “Obviously [we] want to get the two points.”

They were 43 seconds from accomplishing that feat thanks to goals from Tavares, Ryan Pulock, Casey Cizikas and Nick Leddy, along with solid goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, who was once again peppered with a hail storm of shots throughout the evening.

But Ryan Johansen ended any hope of a two-point night when he beat Halak off a rebound at the 19:17 mark of the third period with Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne on the bench.

After being denied on several golden opportunities in overtime by Rinne, New York suffered the indignity of watching Roman Josi light the lamp with the game-winner at 3:42 of the extra session.

“It was our best period in a long time, so it was disappointing not to get two points,” Isles head coach Doug Weight said after the Isles moved one point ahead of Philadelphia and into a deadlock with Columbus for the East’s two available wild-card spots.

“That was our best period, and unfortunately six on five, they scored a goal, and as we know, I think both teams could’ve won it four times in overtime so it’s just a crapshoot.”

Halak finished with 42 saves as the Isles, who lead the league in shots allowed by a large margin, surrendered 47 more, including 37 over the first two periods.

Despite the barrage of rubber flying at their own net, they opened a 4-2 lead before Calle Jarnkrok’s tally with 3:35 left in the second stanza sparked the Predators’ comeback.

New York has yielded an NHL-high 1,922 shots this season, including a franchise-record 146 over the past three games. The Isles have also allowed at least 30 shots in a team-record 20 consecutive contests.

Weight didn’t pull any punches when discussing the reason behind his team’s penchant for allowing pucks to get through to Halak with such great regularity.

“To me, physically, that means you are not in the shot lane,” Weight noted, indicating that the Isles’ defensive corps isn’t throwing its body in front of enough shots.

“We’re talking a big game about being aggressive and blocked shots, but we’re not doing them.”

Making matters worse for New York, which is already missing veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk due to a lower-body injury, defenseman Scott Mayfield left the ice after catching a puck in the foot early in the opening period.

That forced the rest of the back-liners to log at least 20 minutes each, creating a fatigue factor that may have cost the Isles as time wound down in regulation. Leddy, Pulock and Adam Pelech each put in at least 23 minutes apiece.

“I thought we played a really good third period,” Cizikas said. “We did everything we wanted to. We got pucks in deep, didn’t turn anything over, we played a solid third, it was just a tough ending.”

The Isles (26-22-6, 58 points), who fell a single point shy of reaching the playoffs for a second straight season last year, will try to rebound from their third loss in four games since the All-Star break Thursday night in Buffalo.

Isle Have Another: Halak has faced at least 35 shots in 11 consecutive home games, and 844 since Dec. 1, which is almost 100 more than any other goalie in the league over that span. … Weight indicated that Boychuk could return to the ice as early as this weekend, but wouldn’t go so far as to guarantee it as the 34-year-old defenseman hasn’t been in a game since Dec. 27. … By climbing back into the playoff mix, the Isles will likely enter Thursday’s game in Buffalo in possession of a postseason spot for the first time since Jan. 15. … If the Isles can just shake off their penchant for bad starts, they might achieve their goal of reaching the playoffs. New York is 22-0-2 when leading a game after the opening 20 minutes dating back to last season, including 15-0-1 this year.

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In other local pro sports news, the Brooklyn Nets on Monday acquired guard Rashad Vaughn and a second-round pick from Milwaukee in exchange for center Tyler Zeller.

Milwaukee will send its 2018 second-round pick to Brooklyn provided that selection falls between Nos. 31-47. If the pick is not given to the Nets in 2018, it will become an unprotected 2020 second-rounder.

Vaughn has played in 22 games for the Bucks this season, averaging 2.7 points in 7.9 minutes per game.  Selected by Milwaukee with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas product holds career averages of 3.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 12.3 minutes per contest over 133 games.

Zeller, who signed with Brooklyn as a free agent prior to the start of the season, has played in 42 games with averages of 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per contest.

 

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