NEW YORK _ The later it gets, the more a desperate team needs a strong stomach and a good heart to deal with the roiling emotions of a playoff drive. Even more important is a solid third period, which is what the Islanders most needed and what they did not have.
They allowed Matthew Tkachuk to score twice in the final period and saw their two-goal lead wither into a painful 3-2 loss to the Flames on Sunday night at Barclays Center.
Tkachuk decided it with only 1:05 left when he bounced a shot off the post and watched it trickle off Jaroslav Halak and into the net, costing the Islanders a chance to build on their uplifting win Friday and wasting an opportunity to improve their position in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
The last half of the Islanders' two-goal lead disappeared at 9:38 of the third, when Tkachuk was left alone near the net _ with Nick Leddy having strayed toward the corner _ and snapped a shot past Halak. That tightened the tension all the way around for two teams that are desperate for points in their respective conference playoff races. It continued a strong third period for the Flames, who outshot the Islanders, 42-25.
At this stage of the season, with the standings putting the squeeze on everyone's emotions, moods can swing from day to day or, in the case of the Islanders' stunning 7-6 overtime victory Friday, from minute to minute. How does everyone involved with a team deal with those peaks and valleys?
"I don't deal well with them," Doug Weight said before the game. "It's the hardest thing to deal with, really. People talk about going home and turning your job off. I haven't been able to do that yet. I've got to get better at it. You can review or view and watch, think about it, think about it. When you're [potentially] out of the playoffs, you're on the couch for three hours daydreaming about how to make things better. When you're in, you're looking ahead two or three games at how good you can make the team.
"It's tough for the guys, too. But we have to make sure we're getting our rest and looking at the next opponent like it's a Game 7. I think for 10 or 12 teams that's going to be the last 2 { months of the season."
The Islanders knew going into the game Sunday night that two points would put them into playoff position, at least for a matter of hours. They came out with the kind of jump that a desperate team needs. They also quickly took the lead as Casey Cizikas swooped in and stole a defensive-zone pass by TJ Brodie, kept striding and with a diving motion pushed the puck between goalie Mike Smith's pads.
Fighting is not such a big part of the current NHL, but if your guy wins a scuffle, it does give you a lift. So, the Islanders sure seemed exhilarated when Ross Johnston obliged Ryan Lomberg late in the first period and pounded him, knocking him to the ice.
More effective than a punch in the face, though, is a shot from just inside the blue line that makes its way through defenders and past the goalie. Anthony Beauvillier had one of those at 2:59 of the second period, off a feed from Mathew Barzal to make the score 2-0. The Flames ramped up the angst at 10:35 of the same period as Mark Jankowski converted Sam Bennett's pass and scored with one second left on Jason Chimera's penalty.
