3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall 4-3 in Shootout to Kraken 

The New York Islanders inched closer to ending their recent winless skid, but didn’t quite get close enough in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.

Kailer Yamamoto scored the game-deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout – the Islanders first shootout of the season – extending the Isles winless streak to seven games (0-4-3). The Islanders are also on a two-game point streak after an OT loss on Wednesday and a shootout loss on Thursday.

Anders Lee (PPG), Casey Cizikas and Noah Dobson (PPG) scored for the Islanders, but the Kraken got three power-play goals from Matty Beniers, Alex Wennberg and Kailer Yamamoto. Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots in regulation and overtime, plus four additional saves in the shootout. Philipp Grubauer stopped 20 of 23 in regulation and overtime, with four additional stops in the bonus round.

“The effort is there every night,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “For whatever reason, we're not getting rewarded. There's only one thing to do and that's to keep going until you start to and then it can change quickly. We're playing well enough for it to change quickly. We just have to shore up some special teams situations.”

Lee echoed the coach’s sentiment that – penalty kill aside – there were good building blocks to take out of the past two games, as the Isles look to finish their road trip on a winning note in Calgary.

“It's been an awful stretch, but there's have been games that we've played better than we have when were winning,” Lee said. “A lot of our stuff in the neutral zone, five on five, we're getting out better, we're doing a lot of these things that are building our game. We just have a little bit of Achilles heel right now and it's costing us.”

PENALTY KILL IS ACHILLES HEEL AGAIN:

The Islanders penalty kill struggled again on Thursday night, conceding three goals to the Kraken on four power plays.

“We’re letting teams back into games because of our kill right now,” Cizikas said. “We take a lot of pride in what we do, but we’re battling out there. We’re working and sometimes it just feels like everything is going in.”

Seattle scored on their first two power plays, as Matty Beniers picked a corner over Semyon Varlamov’s shoulder to tie the score 1-1 at 9:54, while Alex Wennberg tapped in a backdoor feed from Oliver Bjorkstrand at 18:29.

Thursday marked the third-straight game the Islanders allowed two-or-more power-play tallies, the first time the team had done so since December 1-7, 2017, when they allowed two power-play goals in four-straight games.

It was the opposite of what Head Coach Lane Lambert was looking for, as he talked about the Islanders needing to get careless stick infractions out of their game. The Isles were issued two slashing minors, one hooking call and a delay of game for putting the puck over the glass.

The Islanders allowed their third power-play goal in untimely fashion – an issue that plagued them against both Boston and Vancouver – leaving Kailer Yamamoto to stand alone in front with enough time to make a move on Varlamov and tie the score at 4:50 of the third period.

Thursday also marked the first time the Islanders allowed three power-play goals in consecutive games since Dec. 17 and 19, 2009.

“We just have to keep pushing forward and working together as a unit,” Cizikas said. “When we have opportunities to get pucks to get pucks down, we have to get pucks down. When we have opportunities to block shots, we have to block shots, we have to be in lanes and it’s all the little things that we have to do that will get us back on the right track.”

POWER PLAY PRODUCTION A POSITIVE:

While the penalty kill has been the Achiles Heel during the seven-game slide, the power play has come alive over the past two nights.

The Islanders went two-for-five on the man advantage, scoring a pair of power-play goals for the second straight game, doing so for the first time since April 26 and 28, 2022.

Anders Lee opened the scoring at the 3:46 mark, tapping in a backdoor feed from Bo Horvat, while Noah Dobson scored his fifth goal of the season to five the Islanders a 3-2 lead early in the third period, beating a screened Grubauer with a slap shot from the point.

“It's obviously been a positive,” Dobson said. “When things aren't going well you got to find ways to use the power play to get goals, especially on the road. It's been a positive I think we're just getting pucks to the net and keeping it simple. We just have to keep with it and try and keep building some momentum.”

LEE AND CIZIKAS LIGHT THE LAMP:

Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas both ended lengthy goal droughts on Thursday night.

Lee’s power-play goal marked his first point in 11 games, with his last one coming on Oct. 24. It was an exhale moment for the winger, who had come close to getting off the schneid in recent games, including having a shot swept off the goal line by Canucks defenseman Ian Cole on Wednesday night.

“It’s been tough sledding a little bit, getting one to go,” Lee said. “At the end of the day. We're coming out of here with only a point so we'll regroup and get back after it.”

As for Cizikas, the feisty center tied the score 2-2 for the Islanders late in the second period, burying his third goal of the season and first in eight games.

The Islanders caught the Kraken on a change, with Ryan Pulock head manning the puck to Mathew Barzal, who carried the puck into the zone and caught Cizikas in stride. Cizikas made no mistake, slipping a backhander through Grubauer at 14:25.

It was a milestone goal for Cizikas, who netted the 100^th of his career.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up their four-game Western jaunt on Saturday night in Calgary. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. eastern.