Isles’ late go-ahead goal waved off, club falls in shootout

The Islanders missed their chance to move even in points with the Canadiens, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

They could not hold a two-goal lead in the first period and a one-goal lead in the third period and fell to the Blue Jackets, 4-3, in a shootout on Monday night at UBS Arena.

Kyle Palmieri tipped in defenseman Alexander Romanov’s shot from the left point with 9.6 seconds left in regulation but the goal was immediately waved off for goalie interference on Palmieri. After a long video review the referees said that the call on the ice stood and the game headed to overtime.

The Blue Jackets’ Adam Fantilli had the only goal in the shootout. Anthony Duclair, Palmieri and Bo Horvat could not convert for the Islanders. 

Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves for the Islanders (32-28-10), who close their four-game homestand against the Canucks on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets (32-29-9), who got 30 saves from Elvis Merzlikins, snapped an 0-5-1 skid as defenseman Erik Gudbranson rejoined the lineup after missing 66 games with a shoulder injury and top-line center Sean Monahan returned after a 28-game absence for an upper-body injury.

Kirill Marchenko’s heavy shot from the top of the right circle tied it at 3-3 at 12:56 of the third period.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy opted to use defenseman Adam Boqvist as a forward for the second time in seven games with third-line right wing Hudson Fasching unavailable because of illness. He again chose Boqvist over former fourth-line stalwart Matt Martin who remained a healthy scratch and has not dressed since Jan. 16.

But the slick-skating Boqvist paid dividends on the Islanders’ first goal, taking the puck from defenseman Tony DeAngelo on the rush and feeding Pierre Engvall, who connected with a laser-like wrist shot from the slot at 13:16 of the first period.

The Islanders, who held a 17-6 shot advantage in the first period, made it 2-0 at 18:41 as Bo Horvat fed an open Palmieri in the slot from the left corner.

Boqvist also notched a secondary assist on Anders Lee’s deflection of defenseman Mike Reilly’s point shot with 46.6 seconds left in the second period to regain a 3-2 lead. The goal survived the Blue Jackets’ challenge of goalie interference on Lee for hitting Merzlikins’ left pad as he battled Gudbranson for position.

The late goal just salvaged a sub-par second period for the Islanders as Fantilli’s quick wrister at 5:31 brought the Blue Jackets within 2-1 and Boone Jenner’s shorthanded wrister as he used defenseman Noah Dobson as a screened tied it at 2-2 at 17:13. The Islanders looked disorganized on both of their second-period power plays.