Islanders finally end seven-game losing streak with shootout win over Flames

CALGARY, Alberta — The Islanders had a two-goal lead but lost that. They retook a one-goal lead in the third period and couldn’t hold that. They scored five-on-five, five-on-four and four-on-four.

And finally they won, earning two points for the first time in eight games.

“We knew we were going to get them eventually,” Cal Clutterbuck told Newsday. “I’ve got to be honest; with the games we won earlier in the season, we weren’t playing as close to as well as we played in the last five or six.”

The Islanders snapped an 0-4-3 skid and avoided going oh-fer on their four-game western swing with a 5-4 four-round shootout win over the Flames on Saturday night at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Islanders (6-6-5), who won for the first time in six tries going past regulation, were coming off a 4-3, eight-round shootout loss to the Kraken on Thursday night.

“We had a little bit of confidence going into it,” Hudson Fasching said. “We felt like we believed in ourself a little bit more tonight. It’s hard to have that after going through a tough streak like that.”

“Like I said, I think we’ve been playing some good hockey,” said coach Lane Lambert, who celebrated his 59th birthday on Saturday. “Guys have worked. We’re collecting points, three out of four [games] on the road [1-1-2]. It’s very nice for them to finally get rewarded for their effort.”

Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves for the Islanders and Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots for the Flames (6-8-3).

Still, the win might not squelch all the speculation about Lambert’s job security. President/general manager Lou Lamoriello was not on the trip and Lambert said that while he talked to his boss frequently this past week, “We haven’t talked about my job status.

“All you can do is worry about what you can control and that’s how our team plays. That’s it.”

Oliver Wahlstrom had the deciding shootout goal, skating in on the left to get the puck on his forehand and lift it over Markstrom’s glove after Sorokin used his blocker to deny Connor Zary in the fourth round.

The Flames’ Yegor Sharangovich and Bo Horvat scored in the first round.

“He looks pretty deep, he’s in the blue paint,” Wahlstrom said of Markstrom. “I’m excited when goalies are deep. I just used my shot there. It felt really good. We all needed it. It was a long road trip and we’ve been battling.”

The Islanders built a 3-1 lead with some impressive play in the second period. Kyle Palmieri got to the crease to knock in the rebound of Horvat’s initial shot for a power-play goal at 4:07. Mathew Barzal intercepted defenseman Rasmus Andersson’s attempted backhanded clear with the teams skating four-on-four to give the Islanders a two-goal lead at 8:07.

But Blake Coleman, low in the slot, brought the Flames within 3-2 at 17:03 of the second period and defenseman Mackenzie Weegar’s shot through traffic tied it at 3:12 of the third period.

Brock Nelson’s first even-strength goal in nine games regained a 4-3 lead for the Islanders 20 seconds after Weegar’s goal. Sharangovich tied it again at 13:43.

“We’ve been through a lot, not just in this tough stretch but over the years,” Anders Lee said. “So we’re comfortable in a challenging situation facing adversity dropping as many as we had. We’ve just got to fight through it.”

Martin Pospisil opened the scoring at 12:16 of the first period, skating around defenseman Alexander Romanov to beat the sprawled Sorokin. But Fasching, with his first goal of the season, tied it from the slot at 16:52 of the first period.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.