By Cory Wright
The New York Islanders had their four-game point snapped Monday, following a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Barclays Center in their final game before the NHL’s All-Star Break.
Brock Nelson and Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Islanders, but they played catch-up all night, eventually fighting the clock as much as the red-clad wings.
“We had some chances, but couldn’t find the equalizer,” said Nelson, who scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season. “If we had a little bit more time, we’d probably get it, but that’s the way it goes.”
The Islanders admittedly came out sluggish in the first period, lacking the jump they started with in Ottawa three nights earlier. They paid for it on the penalty kill, as Brad Richards put Detroit up 1-0, intercepting a clearing attempt from Nikolay Kulemin and chipping the puck past Jaroslav Halak at 10:57.
Jack Capuano had seen enough, changing his lines shortly after. He paired Nelson with John Tavares and got the desired effect line changes, as Nelson slammed home a feed from Tavares for the tying goal at 16:23.
“Fortunately when we did [change our lines] we got a little bit of game back,” Capuano said. “We were flat, I just tried to do something to ignite these guys and give them a chance.”
The Red Wings responded with a push in the second period, using their speed to keep the Islanders on their heels. Jaroslav Halak (22 saves on 25 shots) kept the Red Wings at bay early, but Detroit opened up the game with two strikes 1:11 apart for a 3-1 lead.
First, Justin Abdelkader finished a tic-tac-toe play with Henrik Zetterberg and Dylan Larkin at 13:29, moments before Danny DeKeyser collected his own rebound off a rush and beat Halak at 14:40.
“We came out flat,” Matt Martin said. “We weren’t physical enough on them. They have a lot of talent on that team, a lot of speed. I don’t think we dominated the game physically, that’s one of our strong suits as a team is to play with that edge and we didn’t do a good enough job tonight.”
The Islanders finished the game with 15 hits.
Down 3-1, the newfound adversity renewed the Islanders sense of purpose, as they buzzed around the Red Wings net for some quality chances at the end of the period. Ryan Strome had the best try with Mrazek out of position, but sent a bouncing puck through the crease.
Grabovski reignited the hope for an Islanders comeback bid with a breakaway goal with 4:48 remaining. Grabovski took a pass from Martin – playing off his line for the first time in recent memory – and beat Mrazek short side for his seventh of the season.
The Islanders continued to press after the Grabovski goal. Strome had a chance turned aside in tight, while Travis Hamonic’s point shot deflected off a skate in front, but could not get through the Wings’ goaltender. Luke Glendening iced the game with an empty-netter at 19:15.
The Islanders head into the All-Star Break with a 25-16-6 record. They won’t play again until Feb. 2, when they host the Minnesota Wild.
NOTES: Scott Mayfield was returned on loan to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers following Monday’s game.
(Reprinted With Permission of New York Islanders)
