New York Islanders Squander Chance In Chicago Lose 2-1

The Islanders dropped the second of back to back games after holding the Blackhawks scoreless for the first 58 minutes.

Doug Weight opted to go with Thomas Greiss for the second straight game and it paid off early. Greiss made a number of big stops early to keep this one scoreless for so long.

Travis Hamonic also returned to the lineup for the Islanders on Friday after a long stint on injured reserve.

Besides a John Tavares shorthanded breakaway miss half way through the period the Isles didn’t have many scoring chances in the first, despite outshooting Chicago 7-6.

Greiss stood tall and the two teams were tied heading into the first intermission. The Islanders played a decent first period under the circumstances.

The Islanders defense looked sloppy in the middle frame and the Blackhawks controlled most of the period in the Isles zone.

Despite controlling play, the Blackhawks were not getting a lot of pucks to the net. Nick Leddy also saved the day, blocking a Patrick Kane shot with Greiss nowhere to be found.

At the 11:27 mark of the first Anders Lee was called for cross checking and the Blackhawks went to the power play. The Isles penalty kill thrived again, but more importantly was what followed suite.

New York Islanders

Brock and Roll

As the power play expired Brock Nelson and Hamonic stormed the Chicago zone on a two on one and Nelson beat Crawford five-hole to give the Islanders the lead.Despite his scoring drought, Nelson was fantastic last night against Dallas and was due to put one in the back of the net.

The Blackhawks ended the second period buzzing but none to less the Isles took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The Islanders got off to a strong start in the third. They did not have a lot of prime scoring chances, but the defense kept Chicago from tying the game. As the period when on you can begin to see the defense was tired and holding on for dear life.

The 2:05 left in the period the Blackhawks pulled Crawford and the Islanders were trying just about everything to secure the two points.

Off of an offensive zone draw, Artemi Panarin beat Greiss blocker side with a slapshot. The Islanders held the Hawks scoreless for 58 minutes but it wasn’t enough. In the blink of an eye this game was tied and headed to overtime.

Overtime Was Unkind

The overtime period was wild as expected with players like Toews and Tavares going toe to toe. After a big Greiss save, Josh Bailey laid a ferocious hit and headed on a breakaway only to be denied by Crawford.

Tavares shined in the overtime period with a few highlight reel plays but couldn’t get the game winning goal and we were headed to a shootout.

Weight brought out a new look shootout group for the Isles.

Toews scored in round one and it was Josh Ho-Sang going five-hold but was denied by Crawford in his first NHL shootout attempt.

Kane was stopped in the second round, but Nikolai Kulemin hit the post after a good move.

Panarin then finished the Islanders off beating Greiss glove side, and the Blackhawks defeated the Islanders 2-1 in the shootout.

It was certainly a hard fought point for the Isles after beating Dallas the night before, but they have every chance to leave Chicago with a win.

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The Islanders will now head west and continue the road trip on Sunday in Calgary against the Flames.