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New York Islanders

Rapid Reaction: Islanders Can’t Hold Slim Lead, Lose 4-3 to Canucks

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2 years ago

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Elmont–The New York Islanders, in their first game of a six-game homestand, fell 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks.  The Islanders move to 20-23-8 on the season, 10-11-4 on home ice.

ISLANDERS LINES

Parise–Pageau–Palmieri

Bellows–Nelson–Beauvillier

Lee–Bailey–Wahlstrom

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Mayfield

Greene–Dobson

Aho–Pulock

Varlamov

HOW IT HAPPENED

Noah Dobson’s wrist shot from the point gave the New York Islanders a 1-0 lead at 3:37 of the second period. Dobson’s 10th of the season was assisted by Brock Nelson and Andy Greene.

The Vancouver Canucks answered at 7:19 of the second period as Brad Hunt’s slapshot hit off New York Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov and in for his first of the season. Hunt’s goal was unassisted.

The Canucks took a 2-1 lead at 11:50 of the second period as J.T. Miller redirected a Brock Boeser point shot under Varalmov’s blocker for his 21st of the season. Boeser and Quinn Hughes were credited with the assists.

Kyle Palmieri tied the contest at two as he deposited an Adam Pelech saucer pass from the left circle for his seventh of the season. Palmieri’s goal at 18:20 of the second period was assisted by Pelech and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Anthony Beauvillier made it 3-2 Islanders less than two minutes into the third period as the puck barely got over the blue line for his ninth of the season, following a breakaway deke. Beauvillier’s goal was unassisted.

Nils Hoglander tied the score at three at 9:34 of the third period as he was left unguarded towards the blocker-side post. His ninth of the season was unassisted.

Vasily Podkolzin gave the Canucks a 4-3 lead less than a minute later as his shot from the slot beat Varlamov blocker side for his 10th of the season. Bo Horvat was credited with the assist at 10:19 of the third period.

Defensive Lapse in Third

The Vancouver Canucks tied the contest in the third and took the lead in a matter of 45 seconds. The Islanders failed to communicate on Nils Hoglander’s tying goal as he was left all alone towards the back post for an easy goal.

The Islanders got caught puck watching, as Zach Parise got caught in the high slot and Kyle Palmieri went to guard Elias Pettersson, who was already being guarded by Adam Pelech.

The go-ahead goal off the stick of Vasily Podkolzin came due to a turnover by Scott Mayfield in the neutral zone.

Although Mayfield was able to recover, no one picked up Podkolzin in time.

The Islanders had not played a strong game in their own zone but had managed to enter the third period with the lead. Again, their own mistakes came back to bite them in a very winnable game.

Dobson Hits Double Digits

New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson has had no problem letting shots go this season. And he’s been rewarded for his smart shots. For the first time in his young NHL career, Noah Dobson reached the 10-goal mark.

All of Dobson’s 10 goals have come since Dec. 5. He leads the NHL in goals by a defenseman over that span.

Penalty Kill Sharp Early

Under seven minutes into the contest, Sebastian Aho made his way to the penalty box after he took a holding penalty. The Islanders penalty killers allowed just two shots on Semyon Varlamov.

After Anders Lee took an offensive-zone tripping penalty with under two minutes to play in the first period, the Islanders were able to kill off the penalty with ease. They allowed just two shots again. The penalty did carry over into the second period, but three seconds after the center-ice drop, Lee was out of the box.

At that point in the game, there was no score. The Islanders were able to get on the boards a few minutes later.

Palmieri Has Put First Half Behind Him

Kyle Palmieri did not have the first half he or the New York Islanders expected when he signed a four-year deal this past offseason. However, he has looked more like himself as of late.

His seventh of the season tied the contest at two late in the second period.

That was Kyle Palmieri’s sixth goal in the last nine games. He had one goal in his first 29 games of the season. Even if the season is a lost one, the Islanders need Palmieri to continue to show that he can be a consistent contributor. He’s doing that right now.

Quotes: Anthony Beauvillier, Kyle Palmieri, Noah Dobson, Brock Nelson, Barry Trotz

“Yeah, we let them off the hook a little bit in the second period.  I thought we were good in the first, we had our legs. We were winning battles and stuff but yeah, unfortunate that we can’t get any points.”–Anthony Beauvillier

“I mean tonight, I think that’s a team that has pretty active d-men. They did a pretty good job of, it wasn’t just the same corner cycle. They move around a lot, and that makes it pretty tough to defend… And it’s like I said, there’s a lot of movement and sometimes that’s tough to defend. Tonight obviously we didn’t do a great job of defending all that.”–Kyle Palmieri

“We had some good spurts where we were really going but then a couple of letdowns, especially in the third that led to a couple of goals against, so I think we just got to try and find that effort when we are going good for a full sixty.”–Noah Dobson

“I think, you know Palms, that whole line, Palms, Pager, Zach, they work extremely hard. A lot of offense, they hound pucks, create some turnovers and utilize zone time with a lot of chances. That was a nice play tonight. Good call by Pager in the face-off and then a good look by Pelly.”–Brock Nelson

“For me, the effort’s there and they’re a really good group to work with, but we’re not getting the results. And we’re working, you know, we’re working our tails off and we’re not getting results…We went on the last road trip, played some good teams. I thought for the most part being on the road, we played a lot, a lot of good minutes in the games. We didn’t get maybe as many points as we’d like but it was a 500 trip which is pretty good when you go out there. And I thought our game had enough substance tonight where, you know, we’d get a point. We don’t and that’s probably been the frustrating part of the whole thing.”–Barry Trotz

GAME NOTES

Forward Mathew Barzal (LBI) and defenseman Zdeno Chara (UBI) missed their third straight contest. Both are still day to day.

Matt Martin, after being a healthy scratch for the last two contests, was back in the lineup. Ross Johnston was the lone healthy scratch.

WHAT’S NEXT: The New York Islanders host the St. Louis Blues Saturday night at 12:30 PM ET at UBS Arena.

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