Islanders have 3-game winning streak snapped in Detroit, late penalty call looms large

DETROIT — Perhaps it’s a sign of how promising this season is shaping up for the Islanders despite a spate of injuries that a substandard effort can seem like an outlier.

“Yeah, it feels that way for sure,” captain Anders Lee said.

Because, make no mistake, Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena was a cut below the Islanders’ recent efforts.

There were too many turnovers, too little time in the offensive zone and two power-play goals from Alex DeBrincat in the hosts’ three-goal third period as the Islanders (19-12-3) had their three-game winning streak snapped.

And too few high-danger chances. The Red Wings held a 12-5 edge in that category, including 8-1 over the final 40 minutes and 5-0 in the third period, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The analytics site also calculated the Islanders’ Corsi at 44.66%, evidence they did not possess the puck nearly enough.

The Islanders had been 10-0-1 when leading after two periods before the Red Wings rallied.

“Today, we didn’t have enough time in their zone to maybe kill their momentum,” said Emil Heineman, who set a career high with his 11th goal. “They get to fly in our end, instead. We tried to make a push but I thought we pretty much did it to ourselves a little bit too much today. Some turnovers, not quite as crisp as we’ve been in our end. And our forecheck didn’t bring too much today. It’s not the effort we wanted.”

Ilya Sorokin stopped 18 shots while John Gibson made 16 saves for the Red Wings (19-12-3), who have won five of their last seven. The Red Wings went 2-for-2 on the man advantage after the Islanders’ penalty kill was 17-of-18 over the previous seven games (6-1-0).

DeBrincat’s second power-play goal was the winner as he beat Sorokin over his shoulder to the far post from the left circle at 17:43 of the third period. Defenseman Scott Mayfield, allowed to skate into the slot to tie it at 2-2 at 11:26 of the third period, was in the penalty box for tripping Dylan Larkin, a call that immediately angered coach Patrick Roy.

“I thought on that penalty, their guy was already falling down,” Roy said. “So I’m not sure that was the right call at that time of the game because of it. That gave them the power play and that made the difference.”

“The puck came off the wall and bounced into my shin pads,” said Mayfield, who scored his first goal of the season. “I kind of lost it for a second. I turned to find it and my stick hit his skates.”

The Red Wings needed just one minute, 52 seconds to turn a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 lead in the third period. Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka beat Sorokin over his shoulder on a sharp-angle shot at 2:03 and DeBrincat’s power-play goal beat the goalie over his left shoulder from the left circle at 3:55.

“After two, there’s 13 shots each,” Lee said. “As much zone time they had, we held our ground a little bit and limited them to the outside. But, overall, we didn’t control as much as we would have liked. They were stepping up on us in the neutral zone and they picked a few passes off. I think we could have been a little more simple at times and just put the puck in and go. Because that’s what they were doing.”

The Islanders were missing Bo Horvat (left leg/ankle) for the second game and have been playing without Kyle Palmieri (left knee) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (right shoulder), both lost for the season.

On Tuesday, the absences were more noticeable, as only Mathew Barzal’s trio with Jonathan Drouin and Heineman made a consistent impact.

Heineman’s one-timer off Barzal’s cross-ice backhand feed opened the scoring at 4:27 of the first period. Heineman topped the 10 goals he notched in 62 games last season as a Canadiens’ rookie.

Notes & quotes: Barzal logged 22:26, a high among the Islanders’ forwards, after missing the morning skate for maintenance and being a game-time decision. His first-period assist extended his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists) . . . Heineman blocked a game-high five shots.

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.