DETROIT _ The big weekend against the best teams in the Eastern Conference segued into inconsistency against one of the teams standing between the Detroit Red Wings and the playoffs.
The Wings lost, 3-1, to the New York Islanders on Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena, unable to build on the momentum earned with victories over Washington and Pittsburgh. The loss comes as the Wings enter their seven-day bye, meaning they could be further out of playoff contention by the time they resume work next week.
Henrik Zetterberg converted on a power play with less than a second left in the first period and Petr Mrazek had made 17 saves as the Wings entered the third period trailing by a goal. Tomas Tatar tried to stuff a wrap-around in the opening minute but Thomas Greiss made the save. Instead the Wings fell behind 3-1 when John Tavares finished a pass from Josh Bailey at 3:42.
The Wings got a third power play with 11:37 to play in regulation, but couldn't muster a shot on net. Mrazek was pulled with 2:25 to go. Final shots were 27-22 to the Wings.
Zetterberg's line had a good shift about four minutes in, but there wasn't much going early on for either side. The Isles did a better job forcing saves from Mrazek, and also hit two goal posts, one after a Tatar turnover deep in Detroit's zone.
It was a turnover by Mrazek that led to an early deficit. He went behind his net to play the puck, and mistakenly played it straight onto the stick of Bailey, who made it 1-0 at the 15-minute mark.
A furious shift by Darren Helm's line got the Wings a power play with 3.2 seconds to spare. Frans Nielsen won the face-off and Thomas Vanek swiped the puck left to Zetterberg, who found the back of the net with a tenth of a second left on the clock.
Mrazek made several big saves in the second period as the Islanders tried to regain the lead. The Wings had to kill a penalty at 9:35. Calvin de Haan was credited with a goal after his shot ended up going in off Xavier Ouellet, who was battling in front of the crease.
A double-minor for high-sticking call on Helm left the Wings short-handed again starting at 11:50, but Nielsen killed off several seconds with a breakaway and then Anders Lee took a tripping penalty that neutralized the Helm penalty with 2:04 remaining. The Wings had some of their best shifts of the period during the 4-on-4 play, but couldn't solve Greiss.
Mrazek came through with a highlight save when he extended his stick even as he was sprawled on the ice to deny Tavares from the left side. Nielsen had another good chance when he got the puck in the slot, but Greiss stacked his pads on the shot. Nielsen drew a penalty to get the Wings a second power play with 1:56 to go in the second period. Tatar had a shot from the right circle that went off the crossbar. The Wings had a 21-19 edge in shots after two periods.
