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The New York Islanders came up short against the Colorado Avalanche yesterday, losing 1-0 in a shootout.
The Islanders came out really strong in the opening frame, outshooting Colorado pretty badly in the first half of the period. It wasn’t a wildly eventful frame, as the Islanders couldn’t get much going on a power play, and perhaps the most notable moment was Cale Makar seemingly waving off a penalty that was being called on Mathew Barzal for tripping him, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Regardless, it was a solid period and New York didn’t give up much in the way of chances.
New York ended up taking a couple penalties in the second frame though, and were outshot by quite a margin. That said, they still really didn’t allow many quality opportunities (though they didn’t generate a ton of offense either), and the game remained scoreless through 40 minutes.
Colorado then really took over in the first half of the third period, with New York under siege and just trying to hang on. It wasn’t a great period, with the Islanders being outshot 19-8, but Ilya Sorokin held off the Avalanche and regulation time ended with the game still scoreless.
In overtime, the Islanders did have most of the possession early but the Avalanche ended up with the best chances, as J.T. Compher got a point-blank opportunity off a pass but put the puck over the net, before Cale Makar was denied by Sorokin in the dying seconds.
Afterwards, the Avalanche pulled ahead in the first round of the shootout, with Evan Rodiruges deking Sorokin to score. Then after neither team scored in the second round, the pressure was on Anthony Beauvillier, and while he did make a good move to get Alexandar Georgiev going the other way, he lost the puck and Colorado took the win.
I don’t think it was a bad game for New York, but they struggled to generate quality offense. They were outshot 36-15 in the back 40 minutes and overtime, and really didn’t build a ton of sustained pressure in the offensive zone as the game went on. At the end of the day, the Islanders still just don't have enough legitimate top forwards that they can count on to create offense every night.
A positive coming from the matchup though was that Ilya Sorokin looked like himself for the first time in a little while. He stopped all 46 shots he faced through regulation and overtime and while the Islanders didn’t give up a ton of Grade-A chances, he still faced a lot of shots and certainly did his part.
Still, it marks the Islanders’ seventh loss over their last 10 games. Washington has now essentially caught them for the second wildcard spot as well, with the same number of points and having played just one extra game. While they’ve been facing some tough competition, the Islanders haven’t been able to get much momentum going from game to game.
The Islanders will now have a break until Thursday, when they face the New York Rangers, in a key battle for positioning in the Metropolitan Division.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Islanders’ four-game winning streak snapped in rematch against Flyers
Islanders fire 49 shots on goal but fall short against Predators
Islanders score three in second period, earn shutout win over Blackhawks
Islanders’ comeback falls short in 7-4 loss to Blues
Islanders hold off Devils for 6-4 win
Islanders shut out by Hurricanes in second half of back-to-back
Islanders' struggles continue after dropping first two games of road trip
Simon Holmstrom scores first NHL goal, Islanders earn key win in Vegas 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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