Calgary Beats the Islanders 4-2 as the Inconsistent Islanders Played Down to the Level of Their Competition
The Calgary Flames beat the New York Islanders 4-2. The very inconsistent Islanders played down to Calgary’s level. They lost a game they should have won. Andres Lee scored his 300th goal for the Islanders, and Jean Gabriel Pageau also scored. However, the Islanders were buried in the second period when the Calgary Flames scored three goals to take a four-to-nothing lead.
Calgary and the Islanders Scoring Summary
Calgary entered Saturday’s game coming off a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. They got another one. None of their three tallies came at even strength on Thursday night. The Flames are beginning a five-game homestand after coming off a five-game road trip. They have won only two of their last seven outings.
The Islanders are coming off a 1-0 win in Edmonton. Here is a scoring summary of the Islanders’ loss in Calgary. In the first period, the Flames scored the lone goal. Yegor Sharangovich scored, and the Flames led 1-0. That is how the period ended.
In the second period, Adam Klapka, Justin Kirkland, and Yan Kuznetsov all scored for the Flames, and Calgary took a 4-0 lead. The game was essentially over at that point. Then, before the second period ended, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders to make the score 4-1. That is how the second period ended.
In the third period, the Islanders pulled their goaltender with more than eight minutes remaining. The Islanders did not mount much of a challenge. The only scored inside two minutes remaining, but it was a highly significant goal. Andres Lee scored his three-hundredth career goal, making the score 4-2, which is how the game ended.
Rittch Start
David Rittich started in goal against the Flames on Saturday afternoon. He was not that good, especially in the first half of the second period, where at one point he had only a .600 save percentage. Rittich began his National Hockey League career in Calgary and played with the franchise for five years.
Rittich is 3-0-0 with a 1.30 goals against average, a .953 save percentage, and one shutout against Pacific Division opponents this season, but has yet to beat his former team. Overall, Rittich is 11-5-3 with a 2.40 goals against average, a .910 save percentage, and two shutouts this season.
Turning Point
The turning point of this game between the Calgary Flames and the New York Islanders was at 11:49 of the second period when the Flames took a 4-0 lead. The Islanders have struggled to score goals, so 4-0 is pretty insurmountable. It is a shame when you know your team is going to lose with half of the game left to play.
Frequently Asked Questions
The player of the game was Islanders captain Andres Lee. He scored the 300th goal of his Islanders career in the third period after the Islanders pulled David Rittich to have a 6-5 advantage. The turning point of the game came at 11:39 of the third period, when Calgary scored its fourth goal and took a 4-0 lead.
Next for the Islanders is that they continue their 17-day, 7-game road trip in Seattle on Monday at 10 pm. Calgary next hosts the New Jersey Devils on Monday at 9 pm. Lee indeed scored in garbage time for the Islanders.
There was not much time left, and the Islanders’ deficit was insurmountable. However, Lee had been trying unsuccessfully to reach his 300th career goal over the past several games, hitting a wall, so it was good to see the veteran get the honor.
Parting Thoughts
The Islanders needed to win this game against inferior competition. Instead, the masters of inconsistency played down to their competition and lost 4-2. Can they accomplish it, or will it elude them?
