ELMONT, NY — The Islanders’ power play has not been in a giving mood for quite some time, and it devoured any hopes of a win on Thanksgiving Eve against the Boston Bruins.
New York’s man-advantage unit went 0-for-4 with four shots in Wednesday night’s 3-1 loss, its second in three games since returning home from a seven-game road trip.
“The goals obviously aren’t there,” forward Kyle Palmieri said. “The percentage is what it is, but I think there’s looks. I would say tonight we had some good possession, we moved it around, we poiked and prodded, but it bounced over a couple of sticks, stuff like that. I don’t think we have to reinvent the wheel. We’re getting the puck in at will, getting set up, moving the puck well, and we’re finding ways to take what the penalty kill is giving us… The goals aren’t there, but I think there’s a lot of good things and stuff to build on, and they’ll go in.”
Trailing 2-1 midway through the third period and receiving one more opportunity to find an equalizer through special teams, Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer’s errant pass was taken the other way on a 2-on-1 rush before Alex Steeves one-timed his second goal of the night past Ilya Sorokin at the 10:21 mark for a backbreaking shorthanded goal.
“The power play was not as sharp as it was maybe in the other games in a way that our entries were maybe a little too cute,” Roy said. “We tried to force plays instead of putting the puck deep and getting it. But when we did, we had our looks, and we had our chances. It’s just a matter of finding ways to get better shots on net. That’s all, because we can’t change our game. We’ve got to keep playing the same way. We just need to be a little bit better around the net and find ways to bear down on those shots.”
The Islanders (13-9-2, 28 points) are 0-for-their-last-27 on the power play in their last eight games, dating back to Nov. 13 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
With it, the offense has dried up, scoring just two goals in regulation across their last three games, though Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman did his fair part. New York more than tripled Boston’s shots, but 44 of their 45 shots were turned away. Meanwhile, Sorokin stopped 11 of 14 just shots.
“I thought we played a really good game,” Roy said. “If you’re looking at the time of possession and the scoring chances, we were the better team on the ice. But the quality of our shots may have to improve, find ways to bear down on our chances, and sometimes, we’re going to have to get a little more traffic around the net.
“But we’re going to win more games than we’re going to lose if we play that way. I can tell you that, because we played really well defensively and didn’t give them much.”
Mathew Barzal put the Islanders in front 4:41 into the game with a highlight-reel worthy flash of the mitts. Receiving a pass from defenseman Tony DeAngelo from the left point to the left circle, Barzal opted to move in toward the near post of Swayman, who was expecting a tough-angled wrister. Instead, the Islanders’ star cut toward the goal line, deked from his backhand to his forehand, and popped his hands back above the goal line to slot the puck past the out-of-position pads of Swayman.
“It was really nice,” Roy said of Barzal’s goal. “He played a really good game. I thought he was our best player. He had a lot of jump and did a really nice job on that play.”
Just 1:42 later, the Bruins equalized when Steeves found a bouncing puck in front of a falling Ilya Sorokin and stuffed it home with ease.
Tanner Jeannot put Boston ahead 43 seconds into the second period when he snapped a wrister from the right circle over the glove of Sorokin and into the top shelf of the net.
The Islanders had three power-play opportunities after falling behind, but only mustered two shots on goal in those six minutes, and they came on the first of those chances after Henri Jokiharju went off for a trip 1:33 into the second period.
Mark Kastelic’s trip eight minutes into the second resulted in two Islanders attempts getting blocked before they hit the net and a giveaway.
Morgan Geekie went off for a trip with 10:42 left in regulation, but the Bruins had more goals (one) during that Islanders power play than the hosts had shots on goal.
“The guys are there, and they know they have to do the work,” Roy said. “Maybe sometimes it’s a matter of having a bit more confidence around the net, and the power play will click. You get one, you get two, all of a sudden, you feel confident. That’s all that’s missing because we do everything right.”
Oddly enough, things tend to go wrong when the Islanders do a lot of things right. They are 2-8-1 this season when they outshoot their opponents this season and are 1-5-0 when recording 35 or more shots.
