The Isles had a golden opportunity to extend a 2-1 lead when a Panthers defenseman Ruslan Salei was called for boarding 40 seconds after Gary Roberts had been whistled for a four-minute high-sticking penalty.
They recorded no shots during the 5-on-3 man advantage – and to add insult to injury, allowed Roberts to score the tying goal only 23 seconds after escaping the sin bin.
"Our special teams and powerplay need some work," said Mike Sillinger. "We've got to get back to keeping it simple and shooting the puck. When we were scoring goals on the powerplay, we were getting the pucks back [to the point] and shooting the puck and getting to the net. Now we're trying to make pretty passes and I think once we get back to keeping it simple we can start making those plays."
"We were very fortunate to win that game, period," said Islanders coach Ted Nolan. "The way we handled that five-on-three, it didn't look like we knew what we were doing. We've got to get that power play working. We've got to our penalty kill working. They both let us down here tonight."
The Islanders will have an extended opportunity to straighten out their special teams play, with a five-day hiatus before traveling to Pittsburgh for a game on Friday night. It could also mark captain Alexei Yashin's return to the lineup, who could also be the elixir their ill powerplay.
"He's pretty close," Nolan said of Yashin, who skated Saturday. "He's been looking better and better, but we have to make sure he's 100 percent before we put him in. If he's ready by [Friday] that'll be great. If not, it's not too many more games we'll be without him."
