(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Garth Snow has until 3pm. Eastern time Monday to decide whether to make a move or two before the NHL trade deadline. The way his New York Islanders played Sunday night might make him more inclined to shake things up.
The Islanders scuffled their way through their final game at Rexall Place, giving up two goals in a 55-second span midway through the third period and suffering a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. They wound up 0-5-1 in their last six trips to Edmonton.
Jaroslav Halak was sharp through two periods but gave up a pair of tough goals, and the Islanders could not convert on three third-period power plays. Casey Cizikas had the Isles' lone goal in the second period. Cam Talbot made 36 saves for the Oilers, 17 of them in the third.
The Islanders had just killed off the first Oilers power play of the night in the third when Edmonton tied it up. Anton Lander got off a quick wrist shot that went in under Halak's arm, a bit of a changeup shot at 10:12 of the period. Just 55 seconds later, the Islanders were behind.
When Halak was handcuffed by Taylor Hall's shot from the side wall and dropped it a second or two later, Leon Draisaitl was there to stuff it home.
The Islanders had consecutive power plays early in the third as they attempted to extend their lead but had only three shots during the two advantages to go with a lot of stagnation once inside the Oilers' zone.
The Islanders held a 1-0 lead after two periods thanks to the work of Halak, who again was extremely sharp from the start.
After a dismal opening shift in the second period from the Josh Bailey-John Tavares-Ryan Strome line, Jack Capuano turned on the blender and whirled through any number of forward combinations for the rest of the period. The one that clicked for a goal was a familiar one _ the old fourth line.
Cizikas won an Oilers-zone draw and Cal Clutterbuck sent a pass back to the point. Nick Leddy's blast caught Oilers defenseman Adam Clendening near the throat, sending him crumpling to the ice. With the puck still loose, the whistle didn't blow, and Cizikas corralled it and whipped a wrist shot past Talbot to break the scoreless tie at 17:43 of the second period.
The best of Halak's 20 stops through 40 minutes came off an egregious giveaway by Strome, who picked a bad time to have a bad game. With the trade deadline approaching and Snow watching his team from back on Long Island, Strome's middling season and poor game could prompt the GM to pull the trigger on a scoring winger who conceivably could take Strome's place for key games down the stretch.
Ryan Pulock had a few good moments in his NHL debut. He unleashed one big slap shot on the Isles' lone power play in the second period, with the one-timer missing the net by a few inches. He fired off a couple big shots on the last Isles power play with just under seven minutes left, including one that appeared to hurt Talbot, though he stayed in the game.
The first period was eminently forgettable, with the Islanders coming out a bit flat and having trouble with Connor McDavid's line. No shame in that, but the Isles had few moments of cohesion and barely any time in the offensive zone through a scoreless 20 minutes.
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