3 Takeaways: Islanders Lose 5-0 to Wild 

The New York Islanders were shut out 5-0 by the Minnesota Wild on Monday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Mats Zuccarello (1G, 1A), Connor Dewar and Joel Eriksson Ek (2G) and Marcus Foligno powered the offense for Minnesota while the Islanders were shut out for the third time this season.

“I didn't like our effort at all,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “I didn't think we were 100% committed to playing the game the right way right from the start, and just kind of snowballed as we went along.”

Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of 32 shots in 40 minutes, as he appeared in his career-long  11^th straight game. Ken Appleby replaced him in the third period, making six of eight saves, in his first NHL action since Jan. 25, 2018 and first as an Islander.  

Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for his 552^nd win, moving past Patrick Roy for sole possession of second place on the NHL’s all-time goalie wins list.

The Islanders extended their winless skid against the Wild to six games (0-5-1) and are 0-2-0 on their four-game road trip.

SPECIAL TEAMS SINK ISLES:

Special teams hurt the Islanders on Monday night, as they allowed two power-play goals, one shorthanded goal and their power play came up dry through five opportunities.

The Islanders fell behind early, taking three penalties in the first period, and struggling to get to their game from the start.

Anders Lee took a slashing penalty at 1:05 of the first period and the Wild converted on their first opportunity. Mats Zuccarello found the back of the net in his 800^th NHL game to put the Isles in an early hole 1-0 at the 2:11 mark of the game.

The Islanders fended off two subsequent penalties, but found themselves in the box again for the fourth time of the game midway through the second period, as the Wild capitalized on the opportunity.

Kirill  Kaprizov capped off some pretty passing by the Wild, as he fed Joel Eriksson Ek low in the slot, beating Sorokin stick-side with a tip-in to deepen the Wild lead to 3-0. The goal marked the 36^th power-play goal allowed by the Islanders this season, three shy of the 39 power-play goals they allowed in last season’s 82-game slate.

The Islanders entered the game with the NHL’s ninth-ranked power play, but couldn’t take advantage of a struggling Wild PK to get themselves back in the game. The Isles had a four-minute power play in the third period, but seven seconds into the man advantage, Lee took the sixth penalty of the game, marking the 14^th time this season the Islanders have taken a penalty to interrupt their power play.

Marcus Foligno scored with under a minute remaining to extend the Minnesota lead to 5-0.

The Islanders went 2-for-5 on the penalty kill and went 0-for-5 on the power play.

ISLES OFFENSE SHUT OUT FOR THIRD TIME THIS SEASON:

On a night where the Islanders needed a response, their offense came up empty in Minnesota.

The Islanders were limited to just 21 shots in the game and only had 11 in the final 40 minutes. The Isles weren’t able to generate much in the second period, as they were held to one shot through 15:32 of the middle frame and three total shots on goal  in the period. The Wild peppered Ilya Sorokin with 21 shots on goal in the second period alone.  Shots were hard to come by, as were high-danger chances, as the Isles were only credited with two at five-on-five through the first 40 minutes.

“We got out-worked and out-competed,” Lambert said when asked about the second period.

The Isles have scored one goal in their past two games.

“We couldn’t really generate anything in the second period or disrupt their flow,” Brock Nelson said. “They had quite a few chances and were able to generate. We have to be better defensively.”

LINEUP CHANGES:

After suffering a 3-1 loss on Saturday, the Islanders iced a lineup that looked different from Saturday, as Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat were reunited and played with Anders Lee. Hudson Fasching got a run at center, starting on a line with Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin. He skated 10:01, registered one shot and won the single draw he took. 

Julien Gauthier drew into the lineup for the first time since Jan. 9, replacing Oliver Wahlstrom, skating on a line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom. Gauthier recorded two hits and one shot on goal in 12:01 TOI. Kyle Palmieri was reunited with Nelson and Pierre Engvall.

The Isles also tweaked their defensive pairings, as Scott Mayfield played with Mike Reilly, while Adam Pelech was paired with Sebastian Aho. 

The last lineup change came in the form of a goalie change. Ken Appleby came into the game in relief of Ilya Sorokin for the third period with the Isles down 3-0.  entering game action on the penalty kill that carried over from the second period. In his first NHL game since Jan. 25, 2018, the 28-year-old netminder turned aside six of eight shots.

“I would have liked to have made the saves that they needed me to make to hopefully give them the chance to come back in the game,” Appleby said. “It’s never easy coming in cold like that, but I felt like I made some decent saves. It’s exciting anytime you get any kind of action in the NHL, obviously a little nerve racking.”

“I thought he came in and did as good a job as he could do,” Lambert said of Appleby.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Tuesday night in Winnipeg when they take on the Jets.