So maybe one win was not an indicator of the Islanders having solved many problems at all.
Right when you thought the Islanders had escaped their third-period “Groundhog Day” doom loop, “I Got You Babe” played over the clock radio on Monday night and the Islanders were right back where they started.
If anyone has a sense of humor about that, they are not residing in Elmont.
The Islanders were on the wrong end of a third-period comeback for the fourth time in their past five games, allowing the Red Wings to come back and beat them 4-2 on Monday night at UBS Arena.
They whiffed on a chance to go over NHL-.500 for the first time in a month and on the chance to win back-to-back games for the second time this season.
And after feeling good about the way they held a lead two nights prior against the Blues, the chance to build some confidence late in games disappeared like magician David Blaine was behind the bench.
Yes indeed, the Islanders are right back to wondering how they can play so many 45-minute games and so few 60-minute games.
They had their chance to extend the lead in this one when, after effectively killing out the first 8:33 of the third, they got a power-play chance when Dylan Larkin tripped Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
Not only did the Islanders fail miserably to convert it — their third power play of the evening without payoff — but just over a minute after it ended, Larkin tied the game with a sweeping finish around Semyon Varlamov.
Just 2:23 later, Detroit held a 3-2 lead courtesy of Lucas Raymond — who had scored the winner against the Islanders late in regulation Thursday — when the young Swede tipped in Simon Edvinsson’s shot from the left point.
Boos abounded.
The Islanders still had 6:07 left to try to mount a comeback.
But the best fight they showed was from Anders Lee, who dropped gloves with Ben Chiarot.
Alex Lyon, now 3-0 against the Islanders this year, stood tall against a late push from the Islanders at six-on-five before Edvinsson scored into the empty net.
Another good 45 minutes gone to waste.
Lee gave the Islanders an early 1-0 lead with a one-timer from the left circle, putting paid to a series of strong shifts by the top line to start the night.
The Islanders held Detroit without a shot for the game’s first 12:23, but that proved all for naught when Moritz Seider scored on the Red Wings’ second look at goal, blasting Andrew Copp’s feed to the left circle past Varlamov.
Kyle Palmieri broke the 1-1 tie 7:42 into the second, getting onto Brock Nelson’s rebound to become the first Islander to hit double-digit goals.
Isaiah George also recorded his first NHL point on the play by taking the initial shot, which Nelson tipped.
The Islanders had, pretty much, been in the same situation against the same opponent a mere four nights prior in Detroit, playing the Red Wings to a frustratingly low-event game while holding a slight but noticeable edge through the first 40 minutes.
That game was 1-0. This one was 2-1, but the Islanders’ penalty kill was superb against a high-end Detroit power play in both, and like Thursday, they entered the third period Monday knowing they would need to build on a lead — or else.
And just like Thursday, the Islanders picked the worst of those options.
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