New York Islanders Are Their Own Worst Enemy After being shut out 7-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins last Wednesday, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-prospect-quinn-finley-danny-nelson-team-usa] fell 3-1 on New Year's Eve. Here's how it happened: The Islanders welcomed Scott Mayfield back to the lineup after an eight-game absence, but in a surprise turn of events, Pierre Engvall found himself a healthy scratch for the second time this season. On the opening puck drop, Matt Martin, who was in the lineup for a second straight night, dropped the gloves with rookie John Ludvig. The Penguins opened up the scoring at 2:18 of the first after Lars Eller buried an odd-man rush pass from Jansen Harkins. The 2-on-1 came after Noah Dobson got tied up in the neutral zone and fell down, but there was no call on the play. The Islanders earned the first power play of the game after Sidney Crosby slashed Julien Gauthier, but Nedeljkovic stood tall, denying five shots, including a diving save to stop a Brock Nelson one-timer. The Islanders started off the second period killing off a 5-on-3 that carried over from the end of the first. Noel Acciari doubled the Penguins lead to 2-0 shortly after the kill after he deflected a Drew O'Connor shot through his legs and slightly off Scott Mayfield. before the puck beat a screened Sorokin. The Islanders penalty kill was tested yet again at 7:22 of the second, but they got the kill to remain down just two. At 16:29 of the middle frame, the Islanders headed to the power play after a Drew O'Connor hold on Scott Mayfield but could not convert. The Islanders got on the board with 6:09 to play in the third as Samuel Bolduc scored his first of the season, beating Nedeljkovic blocker side to cut the Islanders deficit to 2-1. Islanders end 2023 with a 17-10-9 record, good enough for the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Eller scored his second of the game with 43 seconds to play in regulation on the empty net after Anders Lee failed to bury the tying goal seconds earlier to make it a 3-1 game. UP NEXT: The Islanders battle the Avalanche in Colorado on Tuesday night at 9 PM ET. LINES: Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal Hudson Fasching - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri Simon Holmstrom - Jean Gabriel Pageau - Julien Gauthier Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson Samuel Bolduc - Scott Mayfield Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov
