EDMONTON, Alberta _ The Islanders' road trip to playoff oblivion took another horrific turn Thursday night with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Oilers, extending their winless streak to eight.
The decider came in the third round, when Connor McDavid beat the Islanders' Christopher Gibson, then John Tavares was stopped by Cam Talbot.
After two scoreless periods, the Islanders broke through at 1:54 of the third when Thomas Hickey took the puck in the left circle from Brock Nelson, skated in on Newton and popped the puck high over his left shoulder.
McDavid tied it with 1:50 left in regulation when he skated behind the net and threw the puck in front, where it hit off the Islanders' Brandon Davidson and bounced in off Gibson's head.
Gibson made several good saves in overtime. McDavid hit the post on a penalty shot with 2:00 left in OT after being hooked on a breakaway by Mathew Barzal.
Jordan Eberle nearly won it for the Islanders in his return to Edmonton, but Talbot made a nice pad save.
The most noteworthy development for the Islanders during a scoreless opening period was word from Columbus that the Blue Jackets had defeated the Avalanche, 5-4, in overtime.
So even with their one point for the shootout loss, Islanders are seven points out of the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
On a happier note for the Isles, at the first TV timeout the Oilers gave Eberle a video tribute on his first trip to Edmonton as a visiting player after seven seasons playing here. He got a standing ovation.
The closest either team came to scoring was a hard shot by the Islanders' Ryan Pulock that went just wide when the teams were skating four-on-four.
Later, the Oilers had their best shots of the period when Jujhar Khaira got by far the better of a fight against Cal Clutterbuck.
The second period also was scoreless, and it also brought bad news from elsewhere for the Islanders. In Florida, the Panthers defeated the Canadiens, 5-0, keeping them five points ahead of the Islanders, with three fewer games played.
The Oilers had the better of the play in the second, especially when its top line of McDavid, Milan Lucic and Leon Draisatil was on the ice.
McDavid was splendid, as usual, twice making moves around the defense that resulted in good scoring chances. The Islanders' best moment came on a strong rush by Nick Leddy. He was stopped by Talbot.
The start was Gibson's second in the NHL this season, a reward for a strong performance in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Penguins on Saturday night.
Gibson, a trilingual Finn whose father is British and who learned French during his junior hockey days in Quebec, said after practice on Wednesday that he was looking forward to proving himself in these late-season chances.
With his contract set to expire after this season and after missing almost all but seven games at Bridgeport last season because of a knee injury, there is no time to waste. "Last year with my injury it was important to come back and show that I can still play at this level," he said Wednesday before he knew he would play against the Oilers.
"I was excited to play that (Pittsburgh) game, and I guess it did prove more to myself that I can play at this level, and I'm excited and I'm just waiting for that next opportunity."
Gibson, 25, had been 18-11-1 in Bridgeport before being called up to replace injured Thomas Greiss.
"I've worked hard for this," he said Wednesday, "and hopefully I can stay and make it an everyday thing."
