The Islanders played with desperation right until the final buzzer.
But they could not stave off the inevitable.
Sunday night’s 4-2 loss to the postseason-bound Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena sealed their playoff elimination as the regulation loss allowed the Capitals to clinch the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders (35-31-9), who could never recover from an early-season 0-8-3 slide that coincided with the start of the team’s COVID-19 outbreak, will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and the first time under president and general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz.
But it wasn’t until David Kampf’s empty-netter with 8.1 seconds left in a wild third period that the Maple Leafs (50-20-6), now on a 10-1-1 streak despite missing 58-goal scorer Auston Matthews to a minor injury, sealed the Islanders’ fate.
Coach Barry Trotz loaded up his top line in the third period with Mathew Barzal joining Brock Nelson and captain Anders Lee and a brilliant Ilya Sorokin (33 saves) was pulled with two and half minutes to go in regulation.
The Islanders entered the season with Stanley Cup-or-bust aspirations after back-to-back trips to the NHL semifinals, losing both times to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Lightning.
But they never got closer to the Capitals than 11 points during their late-season push.
“We’ve put together some strong performances and we’ve played some really good games of late,” said Casey Cizikas as the Islanders are 14-7-1 since March 10. “It’s not easy being in the position we’re in but each and every night we’re going out there with a purpose and that’s to win the game.”
“It hasn’t changed anything,” Trotz said. “We’re pretty realistic on where we knew we were and the chances. If we’re in or out it’s not going to matter one way or the other. We’re going to play the same way. We’re going to play to the end. That’s that group. They made that commitment.”
Sorokin made a career-high 44 saves in Friday night’s 3-0 win in Montreal – after opening the road trip with a then-career-high 43 saves in Thursday night’s 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh – but was unable to stop Mitch Marner from tying the game at 1 at 17:31 of the first period. Marner, with four goals in three games against the Islanders this season, was left open low in the slot to convert the rebound of defenseman Mark Giordano’s wrister.
Anthony Beauvillier’s power-play goal had given the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 14:17 of the first period as goalie Jack Campbell (27 saves) left way too much net open to his right.
Josh Bailey was credited with the goal as the Islanders took a 2-1 lead just 31 seconds into the second period, taking a drop pass from Kyle Palmieri behind the Maple Leafs’ crease and getting to the post. But it was Maple Leafs center Alexander Kerfoot who swept the puck into his own net.
But Pierre Engvall, finishing a two-on-one rush with a feed from Kerfoot, tied the game at 2 at 10:49 of the second period and William Nylander’s power-play goal as he was left open in the left circle at 13:20 of the second period made it 3-2. The Maple Leafs have the NHL’s top-rated power play.
But the Islanders killed off the Maple Leafs’ five-on-three advantage that lasted one minute, 21 seconds after defenseman Adam Pelech was called for delay of game at 3:56 of the third period and defenseman Zdeno Chara already in the penalty box for tripping Wayne Simmonds. Sorokin made three saves on the Maple Leafs’ two-man advantage.
