Islanders Lose 4-3 OT to Hurricanes OY VEY! Not again! Yes, again. "That Dreaded Three Goal Lead." It's an expression invented years ago by this department after a loss to Washington. It was a joke then, but it stopped being a gag after that and certainly was not funny last night in the 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina at UBS Arena. Jumping into a Trifecta of goals and then holding serve at 3-0 through 8:18 of the second period, the home skaters frittered it away at 15:26 of the third on a Visitor's power play and lost it in overtime on a Sebastian Aho wrister 1:14 into the extra session. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxOTkwOTIzODUxMTQ3MTg3/usatsi_21820846.jpg] "It's frustrating," said Islanders captain Anders Lee, "and unsettling." Mathew Barzal, who had a goal and an assist, put it another way. "Losing this way is unfortunate because we lost a big point. We sat back in the third period and couldn't get the puck out of our zone." By now, you deserve some good news. I got news for you, so here goes: 1. Despite the OT defeat, the Orange and Blue picked up a valuable point on playoff competitors, Philadelphia, Montreal, Florida and Ottawa. Each lost last night. 2. A good ten games into the season, the Isles only have two losses. 3. Barzal, Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson continue clicking on offense. Dobbie's offensive game is A-1. He scored his third goal of the season and 33rd of his career, tying Adrian Aucoin for 11th most in franchise history. 4. Simon Holmstrom's third goal of the season at 4:11 of he second period -- that made it a 2-0 game -- was a short hander. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxOTkwODA2ODEzMjg3OTQz/usatsi_21821525.jpg] But let's not kid ourselves, my good friends, we need glue, pals, we need big time glue. Seven of those ten games have been at home. "We have to find a way to close out games," Dobson asserted. Plus, they are blowing leads and the coaching staff still does not have an answer to the bottom pairing on defense-- and that hurts. "We've got to make plays when we've got the puck on our stick," said coach Lane Lambert. (Maven says "Good idea. And how about calling a timeout when his club still had a one-goal lead late in the third?") One more thing: for the second time in his last three starts Ilya Sorokin made at least 44 saves. (Give the guy a break, guys, give the warrior a break.) The Maven could say there's a "Carolina Curse" here. It carried over from Paul (I'm Retired) Stastny's OT killer last spring. (OK, I said it.) A few final thoughts. When your club is outshot 48-25, chances are that even a Sorokin might lose. "We'll find a way not to do this (blown three-goal lead) again," Barzal concluded. Maven's Conclusion: "Good idea!" (Next Up: Minnesota Wild, Tuesday night at UBS, 7:30 p.m.)
