Thomas Hickey on Pierre Engvall The New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/bridgeport-islanders-new-york-islanders-ruslan-iskhakov-samuel-asselin] lost their fifth-straight game (0-4-1), falling 4-1 to the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. They now sit a game under .500 and are just one point from the cellar of the Eastern Conference. RAPID RECAP: The expectation was that the Oilers would come out flying after their head coach Jay Woodcroft got the boot on Sunday. But in their first game under Kris Knoblauch, they were no match for the Islanders early. After the second line got on the attack immediately, Mathew Barzal opened up the scoring a shift later as he rifled home a one-time feed from Bo Horvat, beating Stuart Skinner glove side for his third of the season just 40 seconds in. Halfway through the period, the Oilers woke up, and with 5:43 to play in the first, Leon Draisaitl beat Ilya Sorokin blocker side after walking around a flat-footed Sebastian Aho. The Islanders had the first power-play chance of the game two minutes into the second period. With the wingers on their off-wing -- Brock Nelson missing the net from the left dot on the first unit and Oliver Wahlstrom having his shot blocked from the right dot on the second unit -- the Oilers had no issues. Their second power-play chance lasted three seconds about halfway through the middle frame. After Draistailt cross-checked the back of Bo Horvat's legs, Anders Lee was called for interference right off the offensive face-off leading to four-on-four actions. The Islanders have negated their own power play on multiple occasions this season. Speaking of the power play, the Oilers made quick work of their second power play chance, with Zach Hyman scoring from in-tight, uncovered, at 7:35 of the second to make it jump in front 2-1. About two minutes later, Connor McDavid made his presence felt as he beat Ilya Sorokin through the legs before it trickled in to extend their lead to 3-1. While on the power play, with the net empty, Evander Kane scored with 2:24 to play in the third, as the Oilers won 4-1. LINEUP: Mathew Barzal - Bo Horvat - Simon Holmstrom Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Oliver Wahlstrom Julien Gauthier - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock Sebastian Aho - Scott Mayfield Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov UP NEXT: The Islanders head to Vancouver to battle the Canucks Wednesday night at Rogers Arena with puck drop at 10 PM ET, the first of a back-to-back situation.
