The bad news for the Islanders was, at least, all over by the time the game started.
Two points does not change the big picture that just got worse and more than a little bit complicated with the news that Jean-Gabriel Pageau is week to week with an upper-body injury and Alexander Romanov is out five to six months — likely the rest of the regular season at a minimum — and set to undergo right shoulder surgery in the near future.
Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Kraken at UBS on Kyle Palmieri’s shootout winner, though, does soften the blow a little. Certainly, it served as confirmation that the Islanders aren’t letting the injuries get them down.
The Islanders relegated a lifeless defeat to the Blues 24 hours prior to the past.
They were decisive, forechecking hard and dominating possession against Lane Lambert’s side.
They controlled territory.
The line blender necessitated in part by Pageau’s injury and in part by the tired performance against St. Louis produced solid results.
Anders Lee moved up to the top line on the left side of Mat Barzal, who had a terrific night of his own.
The Max Shabanov-Cal Ritchie combination that was so effective as a fourth line cemented the third, with Simon Holmstrom completing it to strong effect.
Anthony Duclair, Casey Cizikas and Max Tsyplakov formed the fourth line, while the second line of Emil Heineman, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri was untouched.
Despite the Islanders holding Seattle to just 10 shots through 40 minutes and tilting the ice throughout, the game went deep into the third period scoreless.
Both David Rittich and Joey Daccord were playing well in nets, but it had all the feeling of a game the Islanders would let slip through their fingers.
In recent years, it might have been.
Not this year.
Not Sunday.
The game went to overtime after Pulock interrupted Mason Marchment’s attempt at the net, Bo Horvat having whiffed on a look at the other end seconds earlier.
Just like in regulation, the Islanders had the better of the chances in three-on-three overtime and spent the last 18 seconds on the power play, with Horvat’s one-timer forcing Daccord into a great save with seconds to go.
In the shootout, though, Daccord was made the rare goalie to nab a 65-minute shutout and end up the loser anyway, as Palmieri beat him in the fourth round to win it.
The Islanders were slow to start scoring in part because Daccord had a solid afternoon in net for Seattle.
But it also has been a quiet trend all season that the Islanders are not getting enough traffic in front of opposing netminders.
It was evident Saturday.
It was plain as day Sunday.
It is a problem that is unlikely to go away on a roster where Lee is the only forward who can consistently create problems for the opposition around the blue paint.
And when the Islanders cannot convert their chances on the rush, when Bo Horvat is seeing some regression after a hot start to the season and Matthew Schaefer — excellent in tight spaces throughout Sunday’s game — cannot produce a moment of individual brilliance, it means the Islanders cannot fall back on a greasy goal.
The issue has been particularly evident on Mat Barzal’s line and was again Sunday.
Barzal dominated the puck, evaded defenders, looked completely locked in and, yet, rarely got inside the dots with the puck on his stick.
It all added up to a game in which the Islanders risked two points that should have easily been in their back pockets, given the way they dominated the Kraken.
Ultimately getting the two points, though, was a pretty good consolation.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
