CHICAGO — The New York Islanders had a chance to skate their way to a wild-card spot on Sunday afternoon.
Instead, it was a deflating 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, with Connor Bedard scoring with 54 seconds to play in regulation:
The Islanders played well enough to win, with Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech back in the lineup after extended absences. However, the power play went 0-for-4, and it’s hard to win in this league, regardless of the opponent, when that happens.
The Islanders allowed the first goal for the seventh straight game after Dennis Cholowski left Ilya Mikheyev alone in the low slot:
Despite a pretty rough showing in the opening 20, the Islanders got the game tied at 18:43 of the first after Ryan Pulock sent a howitzer (101 MPH) through the legs of Simon Holmstrom and past Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom for his first goal of the season:
But just 57 seconds, the Islanders broke down defensively after Noah Dobson lost Taylor Hall, who buried a Teuvo Teravainen one-time pass at the bottom of the right circle to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead with just 20 seconds remaining in the first period:
The Islanders were outshot 10-6.
In his first period back, #Isles Mathew Barzal played 6:18 (most amongst forward group) with one miss, four off-the-mark passes, winning 2-of-3 face-offs. He was out there for Hall goal.
He’ll find his game. #Isles
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) December 15, 2024
The Islanders looked much better in the second period and had a chance to take the lead at the 13:02 mark after Hall slashed Scott Mayfield.
But while on the power play, Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy crushed Maxim Tsypakov before tripping over No.7’s body. However, the referee called a trip on Tsyplakov. While the two sides played 4-on-4, Alexander Romanov took a delay-of-game penalty, giving Chicago a 5-on-3 power play.
“I take a hit and drop, and my legs go up, and the ref thinks I’m trying to trip,” Tsyplakov said.
At 15:19 of the second, Teravainen recorded his third point of the game, beating Sorokin with a one-timer from the right circle to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead:
“There’s mistakes you can make, but there’s some that you cannot make, and it will cost you at some point,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “And then they took a 3-2 lead […] but again, we have to find ways to win hockey games.”
The Islanders were allowed to redeem themselves after Tsyplakov was tripped into the Blackhawks zone. But Chicago showcased a dominant penalty kill, leaving New York with three seconds on the man advantage to start the third.
Although the Islanders can’t beat the power-play clock, Noah Dobson tied the score at 3-3 after showing off patience before cutting to the slot and beating a lost Arvid Soderblom under the right pad:
The Blackhawks did challenge for goalie interference but lost it, giving the Islanders a power play:
The Islanders had their fourth chance to come through on the power play but could not find a goal.
After Bedard gave the Blackhawks the lead, Murphy scored on the empty net with 11 seconds to play in regulation for the 5-3 final.
UP NEXT: The Islanders head to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET.
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