EDMONTON, Alberta — The first period was awful and so was this defeat.
Passes didn’t click. Offense wasn’t generated. Special teams proved a detriment.
The Islanders lost 4-2 to the Oilers on Thursday night at Rogers Place as they are 1-2-0 on their four-game western swing. If not for Ilya Sorokin (34 saves) this one could have been far worse.
The Islanders (22-16-2) were 0-for-3 on the power play, yielded a shorthanded goal and gave up a man-advantage goal.
Jack Campbell, who entered the game with a sub-par save percentage of .877, needed to make just 20 saves for the Oilers (21-17-2). Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Oilers had an unfathomable 21-0 advantage in high-danger chances.
Cal Clutterbuck was activated off injured reserve and played his first game since hurting his right hand on Dec. 16. Fellow right wing Kyle Palmieri, who also suffered an upper-body injury on Dec. 16, participated in the team’s full morning skate, marking his first practice with teammates.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov is expected to make his first start since injuring his groin on Dec. 17 when the Islanders conclude the trip against the Flames on Friday night.
Clutterbuck, getting to the low slot, deflected defenseman Scott Mayfield’s shot from the right point to bring the Islanders within 4-2 with 52.9 seconds left in the second period.
The Islanders had seemed to shake off their horrendous start as Mathew Barzal extended his career-high goal streak to five games with a rising wrist shot from the right circle off Josh Bailey’s feed at 4:42 of the second period. But Dylan Holloway’s one-timer from the high slot through traffic — off Leon Draisaitl’s 400th career assist — regained a two-goal edge for the Oilers just under four minutes later.
Zach Hyman then got past defenseman Alexander Romanov and lifted a backhander at the crease to make it 4-1 at 15:17 of the second period.
The Islanders had admittedly sluggish first periods in both Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Canucks and in a 4-1 loss to the Kraken two nights earlier. Thursday’s first period was the worst of the trip.
The Oilers outshot the Islanders 18-4 and outchanced them 38-10. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Oilers generated 14 high-danger chances to the Islanders’ none, including 10 skating five-on-five.
The Oilers’ top-ranked power play made it 1-0 at 9:26 of the first period as Connor McDavid set up Draisaitl’s one-timer. The Oilers held a 13-2 shot advantage at that point.
Kailer Yamamoto’s shorthanded goal at 18:40 made it 2-0 as McDavid collected his 500th career assist.
