NY Islanders rally falls short in 5-4 loss to Jets after wild momentum swings

Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders dropped a 5-4 decision to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, despite erasing a three-goal deficit in a frantic second period.

Winnipeg won its third straight game behind goals from Lowry, Connor, Dylan DeMelo, Jonathan Toews and Josh Morrissey. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for the Jets. The Islanders received goals from Kyle MacLean, Emil Heineman, Anthony Duclair and rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, while Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves.

Connor opened the scoring 4:20 into the first period, pouncing on a rebound after Alex Iafallo deflected Mark Scheifele’s shot. Morrissey doubled the lead early in the second with a shot through traffic, and Toews made it 3-0 just 42 seconds later on a power play, sliding home a rebound from Gabe Vilardi’s attempt.

The Islanders responded with urgency. Duclair got New York on the board at 7:40 of the second period, finishing a slick feed from Anders Lee. Heineman followed with a penalty-shot goal less than two minutes later, and MacLean tied the game at 3-3 by jamming in a pass from Casey Cizikas during a net-front scramble.

Momentum swung back to Winnipeg late in the period. DeMelo restored the Jets’ lead with a screened point shot, and Lowry deflected Neal Pionk’s drive past Sorokin with 20 seconds left in the second to make it 5-3.

“I thought going into the third period tonight it was going to be one of those games where we were going to find a way,” Anders Lee said. “We ran out of time a little bit, but defensively we have to be better. There’s no question about that, we know that in this room it wasn’t our best tonight."

The Isles pushed in the final minutes, and Schaefer scored with 46 seconds remaining and the goalie pulled to cut the deficit to one. The Islanders pressed in the closing seconds but couldn’t find the equalizer, falling to 6-3-1 in their last 10 games despite another late rally.

The road trip continues in Edmonton on Thursday night.