The New York Islanders comeback bid fell just short on Tuesday night, as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks at UBS Arena.
Anders Lee, Simon Holmstrom and Cal Ritchie scored for the Islanders, but it wasn’t enough to combat offense from Nick Lardis (1G, 2A), Ilya Mikheyev, Tyler Bertuzzi (1G, 1A) and Frank Nazar (1G, 1A) and a 44-save performance from Arvid Soderblom. David Rittich allowed three goals on 12 shots before he was replaced by Ilya Sorokin at the start of the second period. Sorokin made 11 saves in a relief effort.
After allowing four straight goals, the Islanders cut the 4-1 deficit to 4-3, putting up a fight until the final horn.
“We were saying we could find three goals we found two,” Lee said. “We had a bad few minutes, but that’s not going to stop us from doing whatever we can to try to win.”
Tuesday’s loss had standings implications, as the out of town scoreboard provided mixed results for the Islanders.
The Ottawa Senators held off the Detroit Red Wings 3-2, meaning the Sens (85 points) leaped over the Red Wings (84 points) and the Islanders (85 points) into the second Wild Card, due to a game in-hand on New York. The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 following their 1-0 defeat to the Isles on Sunday night. Columbus (87 points) moved up to second place in the Metropolitan Division, while the Flyers (80 points) remained five points back with two games in-hand.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (86 points) dropped to third in the Metro after a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Pens still have a game in-hand over the Isles. Finally, the Montreal Canadiens topped the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on home ice to remain in third place in the Atlantic Division with 88 points.
