The New York Islanders won on Thursday night despite being whistled for nine penalties.
The Columbus Blue Jackets weren’t as fortunate after an eight-penalty evening.
A pair of teams looking to spend less time on the penalty kill will play each other for the first time this season, when the Islanders visit the Blue Jackets in a battle of Metropolitan Division rivals on Saturday night.
Both teams were off Friday following their eventful games Thursday, when the host Islanders edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2 and the visiting Blue Jackets suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Noah Dobson scored the game-winner for the Islanders 6:45 into the third period which was shortly after New York — which committed all of its penalties in the first two periods, including seven in the second — killed off a 5-on-3 and a 5-on-4 within the first two minutes of the final stanza.
“We had been short-handed so long throughout the previous 20 minutes,” Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said. “To weather that and get through it and for our goalkeeper to make some huge saves right at the end of it — it definitely gives you a boost.”
Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin finished with 45 saves and stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced on the penalty kill, including all six he faced in the third period. The 16 power-play shots were the most faced by a New York goalie since the Pittsburgh Penguins had 22 power play shots against Mikko Koskinen on Feb. 11, 2011.
The Senators collected their lone power play goal 6:52 into the second, when Claude Giroux scored during a 5-on-4 opportunity.
“They did a really good job all night long,” Lambert said of the Islanders’ penalty kill. “Basically, the reason we won the game was our penalty kill was good.”
The Blue Jackets’ penalty kill grew less efficient throughout Thursday’s game. After successfully navigating the Canadiens’ first four power plays, Columbus squandered a 3-1 lead by allowing Montreal to score twice on the man advantage in a span of a little more than eight minutes bridging the second and third periods.
Mike Matheson scored with 17 seconds left in the middle period, 55 seconds after Damon Severson drew an interference penalty. Sean Monahan tied the game at 7:48 of the third, 53 seconds after Adam Fantilli headed to the box for interference. Cole Caufield won the game for the hosts by scoring with 43 seconds left in overtime.
Emil Bemstrom scored a pair of power play goals for the Blue Jackets, who outshot the Canadiens 36-29.
“We had our chances, but it was a well-played game by both teams,” Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said. “I thought, obviously, the penalties are something that changes the momentum.”
The loss was the second straight overtime defeat for the Blue Jackets in which they didn’t trail until allowing the winning goal. The Anaheim Ducks overcame a pair of one-goal deficits in a 3-2 win on Tuesday night.
“We always want two points, obviously,” Vincent said. “We’ve got to find ways. It’s managing the game, managing the clock, managing the score. That’s something we need to get better at, that’s for sure.”
–Field Level Media
