Isles blow multiple leads, lose to Predators in OT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Canadiens keep winning so this “playoff chase” for the Islanders is probably moot anyway. But they knew the mission for Tuesday night’s match: Beat the out-of-contention Predators and then win their five remaining games as well.

So they certainly needed a more structured defensive effort, less back-and-forth, pond hockey-inspired craziness and No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin to make it to the end of the game healthy.

In the end, they only earned one point in a 7-6 overtime loss at Bridgestone Arena after allowing two goals in the final 2:07 of regulation. Now any combination of two points gained by the Canadiens or lost by the Islanders will seal their playoff elimination.

Fedor Svechkov scored the winner at 1:56 of overtime.

Kyle Palmieri, muscling through the slot for a backhander, put the Islanders ahead 5-4 at 15:21 of the third period. Defenseman Ryan Pulock was called for hooking 36 seconds later but defenseman Scott Mayfield, off Simon Holmstrom’s feed, gave the Islanders a two-goal edge with a shorthanded goal at 16:19.

But Steven Stamkos cut it to 6-5 with his second power play goal at 17:53 and Michael Bunting tied it again with 39.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Both goals came with goalie Justus Annunen pulled for an extra skater.

Holmstrom, with two goals and two assists, set a career high with four points.

Sorokin exited after the second period, having allowed four goals on 23 shots, likely hurt when 6-6, 232-pound Michael McCarron fell over him on the Predators’ fourth goal at 13:25 of the second period. Marcus Hogberg relieved Sorokin and made 6 saves.

At that point, the Canadiens had already beat the visiting Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday for their sixth straight victory as the Islanders (34-32-11) fell eight points behind them for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

“I’m not focusing on math,” coach Patrick Roy said before the match. “I’m focusing on games.”

Still, the likelihood is the Islanders will miss the postseason for the first time since 2022 and be unable to win their first playoff series since 2021, when they advanced to the NHL semifinals for the second straight season.

The offseason will likely bring significant roster movement.

“I don’t know how many guys are really thinking about that right now,” Palmieri said. “For us it’s about really just taking it game by game and we want to play well for each other. We’ve fought hard all year and to sit there and mail it in for nine more days, it’s not something that’s part of our culture and the respect we have for each other as teammates.

The Islanders survived a sloppy defensive effort in the first period in a 2-2 tie as Bo Horvat won an offensive-zone faceoff and Anders Lee tipped defenseman Adam Pelech’s blistering wrister at 16:12.

Holmstrom’s tip of Pulock’s feed from the right circle opened the scoring at 4:16. But Ryan O’Reilly, with his 300th career goal, found space to skate to the crease and knock in a juicy rebound at 6:44 and Filip Forsberg, given way to much skating space in the offensive zone, beat Sorokin over his blocker at 11:45.

The teams each scored twice in the second period, too, with Holmstrom’s second off Pageau’s feed giving the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 4:36. Steven Stamkos tied it at 7:24 with a power-play one-timer before Maxim Tsyplakov, seconds after the Islanders’ disjointed first power play expired, shoveled Holmstrom’s feed in to make it 4-3. But the Islanders’ couldn’t keep McCarron from a loose puck at the crease to again tie the game.

Stamkos added a second power-play goal with the Predators skating five-on-three with their goalie pulled to cut the Islanders’ lead to 6-5 at 17:53 of the third period.

Annunen made 16 saves for the Predators (28-42-8).

Notes & quotes: Lee’s first-period goal was the 288th of his career, breaking a tie with Pat LaFontaine and Brent Sutter for sole possession of sixth all-time in Islanders’ history…Predators assistant coach Todd Richards ran the bench with coach Andrew Brunette away from the team while dealing with a family matter . . . The Islanders have lost six straight in Nashville with their last win at at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 28, 2017.