Islanders suffer shootout loss to Predators one game after nine-goal explosion

· New York Post

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They can’t all be 9-0 wins.

In tone, tenor and result, this one was far removed from Tuesday’s shellacking of the Devils.

The Islanders still haven’t won at Bridgestone Arena since 2017, and Thursday yielded a 2-1 shootout defeat to the Predators in a low-event match with Filip Forsberg notching the winner.

“Sometimes you gotta play those games on the road,” Ryan Pulock told The Post. “I thought defensively we were a little better. … I think when you get it to overtime, you try to get the second [point]. We want two there.”

Neither team’s offense did much to write home about in this game, and you can’t blame the loss solely on the power play when the Islanders had just two chances at five-on-four.

The man advantage is where the culpability begins, though, both because it remains perhaps the Islanders’ single biggest liability right now and because it allowed a game-tying shorthanded goal to Ryan O’Reilly with under a minute to go in the second.

Ryan O’Reily celebrates after beating Emil Heineman and scoring on goalie David Rittich during the second period of the Islanders’ 2-1 shootout loss to the Predators on Jan. 8, 2025 in Nashville. NHLI via Getty Images

That came after Cole Smith picked off Mathew Barzal’s errant feed from behind the net, feeding O’Reilly off the break for a shot that slid under David Rittich’s pads. There was blame to go around, and it allowed the Predators to enter the third period tied at one in a game where the Islanders had been the better team through 40 minutes.

“They’re pretty aggressive when they come at us,” Matthew Schaefer said. “And then we just gotta find a way to put one in the back of the net.”

After the Islanders’ second power play of the night went for nothing, physical hostilities that had been building all night spilled over after Anders Lee clipped Juuse Saros. The ensuing maelstrom took several minutes to calm down and ended with Tony DeAngelo and Luke Evangelista taking offsetting unsportsmanlike conducts, though Lee got off clean.

Simon Holmstron scores a goal on Juuse Saros during the second period of the Islanders’ shootout loss to the Predators. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

“I thought it was the right call on the ice [but] I was disappointed that they blew the whistle because that would’ve been a goal,” coach Patrick Roy said. “The referee lost the puck. That’s what happens when they lose the puck.”

The game did start to yield some offense after that. For the first time all night, both teams began trading chances off the rush, with Barzal missing Lee at the back door and O’Reilly sending Steven Stamkos’ two-on-one feed wide.

A frenetic ending to regulation, though, did not yield a goal for either team, and neither did a whistle-less overtime when the best chance came to Schaefer, who was denied from the slot by Saros with under a minute to play.

The Predators got the extra point, with Forsberg going bar down on his backhand to score the only goal of the skills competition.

Cal Ritchie’s shot is stopped by Juuse Saros during the Islanders-Predators game. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Roy mixed up his bottom six going into the night, responding to Anthony Duclair’s hat trick by putting him on a revamped third line with Casey Cizikas and Max Shabanov. Cal Ritchie centered Marc Gatcomb and Kyle MacLean on the fourth line.

As has often been the case when the Gatcomb, Cizikas, MacLean trio has been split, it looked mismatched at best. Ritchie’s game doesn’t seem to fit linemates who play heavy, checking hockey; Cizikas is usually at his best with linemates who play his same style. It didn’t help Thursday that Shabanov was below par, getting knocked off the puck and away from the crease when trying to work inside.

The top six was untouched, and validated the lack of changes. Barzal, quietly in the midst of a terrific stretch of hockey, looked in command. Simon Holmstrom got on the scoresheet for the second straight game when Scott Mayfield’s feed from behind the net found his stick at the right post 12:14 into the second for the opening goal.

It ended up being the only time all night the Islanders found pay dirt.

“I thought we didn’t really get a cycle game going consistently,” Pulock said. “We had a couple moments where we had some movement and it was creating some looks for us, but we weren’t able to sustain it. I just think there wasn’t much out there.

“That’s when you gotta dig deep, find a way to get greasy. Get to the net. Get pucks to the net. We weren’t able to do that.”