The Upshot: NY Islanders fall to the Kraken in a shootout 2-1

HOW IT HAPPENED

The NY Islanders earned yet another loser point on Tuesday night, the second time this season that they lost to the Seattle Kraken in a shootout. The choice by head coach Patrick Roy to send Oliver Wahlstrom out first in the shootout was a bit surprising but surely had to boost his confidence. The only thing that would have helped is if he had scored, or if Bo Horvat or Mat Barzal could score after him. Neither of these happened. Tomas Tatar scored the only goal in the skills competition, giving the Kraken the extra point. The only goals in regulation came from Seattle's reigning Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers on a 2-on-1, and from Kyle Palmieri for the Isles on the power play. Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves on 30 shots in the loss, while Philip Grubauer stopped 26 of 27.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

It's hard to believe anybody who watched the game will be quick to point out what they thought went well for New York. Sorokin did what he had to do when the Kraken were pressing in the Isles' zone, and they certainly would not have gotten to OT if anybody else was in the net. It seems like Sorokin is hitting a decent stride, much different than what we saw in Lane Lambert's last days as the Islanders' head coach. Horvat and Barzal both played an extensive amount of ice time this game and were diamonds in the rough while the rest of the team was flat. They both logged over 25 minutes of ice time each and played most of the overtime period, but in the end, just could not finish even with good opportunities. Credit should be given to Grubauer on the other end who stopped them both on odd-man rushes in the sudden death period, along with sealing the doors shut in the shootout.

WHAT WENT WRONG

In an objective view, the Isles probably did not deserve to grab a point in the standings considering they were sloppy all around. The Isles were trapped in their defensive zone for a good portion of the night, including a monstrous shift late in the second period that lasted about three minutes for the Islanders' top line and defense pairing. Even though it was an average amount of shots for Sorokin to face, he was under duress more than the box score will tell you. He also had a couple of giveaways himself, clearing the puck along the boards with no teammate in the vicinity. Not the best game for the Isles, as they'll need to re-group and re-focus before taking on their interstate rivals on the big stage.

STATS OF THE GAME

• The Isles won 36 faceoffs throughout last night's contest while the Kraken won just 18.

• Barzal earned an assist on the Palmieri goal, which extends his point streak to six games with three goals and five assists during that span.

• Four out of the Isles' five losses under Roy have been one-goal games, including this one.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Isles' next matchup will be an important one for all fans, as they take the ice outdoors at Metlife Stadium to take on the New York Rangers in this year's NHL Stadium Series. These teams did not face off once in the calendar year 2023, with their last matchup coming on December 22, 2022, the only time the Blue and Orange lost to the Rags last season. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 PM on ABC.