The New York Islanders lost a close game to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3, at UBS Arena on March 25. The Islanders made a late push but could not overcome an early deficit despite goals from Anders Lee, Simon Holmstrom, and Cal Ritchie.
The outcome affects the playoff race for the Islanders. With this loss and other results around the league, the Ottawa Senators moved into a wild card spot due to having a game in hand over New York. Columbus Blue Jackets also advanced in their division standings while Pittsburgh Penguins dropped to third place but still have a game in hand over the Islanders.
Lee opened scoring just 49 seconds into the game with his 305th career goal, passing Clark Gillies for fourth-most in franchise history. However, Chicago responded with four straight goals from Nick Lardis, Ilya Mikheyev, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Frank Nazar. David Rittich started as goaltender for New York but was replaced by Ilya Sorokin after allowing three goals in the first period.
“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.” He later added: “We made a few mistakes in the first… Until those mistakes started happening, I thought we came out strong and played a good first 10 minutes. We made some mistakes and left Rittich out to dry, and the next thing we know it’s 3-1.”
Head Coach Patrick Roy explained his decision to change goaltenders: “We understood that it was an important game for us, and we had to find a way to get back in that game and create something,” Roy said. “Sometimes it’s just a decision to create a spark and I thought it did.”
Despite recording their second-highest shot total of the season with 47 shots on goal—including ten by Bo Horvat—the Islanders were unable to beat Chicago’s Arvid Soderblom more than three times. “He made some good saves at key times in the game,” JG Pageau said about Soderblom’s performance.
Tony DeAngelo left midway through the first period due to injury; he will be evaluated further on Wednesday according to Roy’s comments after skating only five defensemen for most of the match.
Looking ahead, New York continues its homestand against Dallas Stars on Thursday.
