Islanders Third Period Meltdown in Minnesota Ends Point Streak

It was a game of motivation for the New York Islanders. For Anders Lee, he was returning home to where his hockey life started with his family in attendance, as for Zach Parise, well he was bought out by the Wild right at the start of the offseason.

In the first period, Semyon Varlamov looked sharp in his first start of the year. The Isles defense hung him out to dry at times but he stood tall stopping all 14 Minnesota shots in the period.

At the end of the first, with just 19 seconds left, Anders Lee got the Isles on the board with his third of the year and second in two games.

Anders Lee just doing Anders Lee things. He got to the front of the net and was able to find Zdeno Chara’s shot to sneak it through Kaapo Kahkonen’s legs. In the second period, the Isles came out of the gate strong but it turned to the Wild’s favor in the second half of the period.

Brandon Duhaime tied the game at one as he snuck one past Varly. Varlamov just made a big save prior and Duhaime let a shot go that even seemed to catch defenseman Adam Pelech off guard as well.

The game wouldn’t remain tied for long as Mat Barzal would intercept a pass and take off for a two on one with Anders Lee by his side. Once again, it was Anders Lee who gave the Isles the lead at 12:04.

The Islanders would get a power play opportunity where they could’ve put the game away in the second but mistakes including a drop pass from Noah Dobson led to Semyon Varlamov having to stand on his head.

The third period was a meltdown period for New York. Ryan Hartman scored to tie up the game at two and then Brandon Duhaime would get his second of the night on one that Semyon Varlamov would love to have back.

The Isles turned it on too little too late and then Jonas Brodin would add an empty-net goal as well as Matt Dumba to make it a 5-2 game. The Islanders seven-game point streak would come to an end in Minnesota. The team doesn’t play again until Thursday in New Jersey.