EDMONTON, Alberta — The Islanders blew another lead.
The Islanders lost a 2-0 lead in the third period as Taylor Hall scored the overtime winner and the Oilers rebounded from a listless start to earn a 3-2 come-from-behind victory on Thursday night.
The Islanders have lost 10 games this season in which they led heading into the third period.
“I wish I had an answer for that,” New York forward Michael Grabner said. “We have to try and bear down. We had some chances on some 2-on-1s that we didn’t take advantage of. We have to try and make it 3-0, and 4-0 and not just sit back.”
Islanders coach Jack Capuano said his team simply can’t afford to let up late in a game.
“We made mistakes, we talk about this all the time,” he said. “You have to teach and you have to learn from it. At some point, they’re going to have to realize those little things, the moment you stop moving your feet or get out of position it’s going to cost you.”
The game-winning goal occurred when Sam Gagner stole a puck in the neutral zone and went around defender Brian Strait before sending it on net, where Hall was able to slip it past goalie Evgeni Nabokov 2:29 into overtime.
Ryan Smyth and Philip Larsen also scored for the Oilers, who have won two games in a row and are 7-2-2 in their past 11 games.
Frans Nielsen and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders, who have lost 10 of their past 13 games.
The Islanders opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 9:58 of the first period. Gagner gave up the puck in the Islanders zone, allowing a 2-on-1 break that saw Nielsen elect to shoot the puck himself, beating Oilers starting goalie Ben Scrivens top corner for his 19th goal of the season.
The Islanders made it 2-0 at 18:21 of the first as Lee was able to tip a Strait shot through Scrivens’ legs. It was the Islanders rookie’s fourth goal in five career NHL games.
The Islanders outshot Edmonton 13-4 in the first period.