Somehow, the Islanders are still searching for their first win in their new home.
After taking a 3-2 lead early in the third period on Thursday night, New York surrendered a game-tying goal to Nashville’s Yakov Trenin, then allowed a game-winner from Eeli Tolvanen with 11.5 seconds left to give the Predators an improbable 4-3 win, and leave the Islanders again looking for answers in a heartbreaking loss at the brand new UBS Arena.
“I think what you’d expect,” captain Anders Lee said of the team’s reaction to another defeat on home ice. “It’s a tough one to swallow. Give ourselves the lead in the third period, and we weren’t able to shut it down. This one sucks.”
New York, losers of 12 of its last 13 games, are now 0-5-2 at UBS Arena, after coming oh-so close to its first home victory of the season before the Predators spoiled the party.
“We've had games in this building that we could've won,” Lee said. “For whatever reason, we haven’t closed it out. There are a lot of individual games where you look at how close they were, and we come out on the wrong side. It just happens to be that we’ve strung them together in this building.”
The Islanders will get another chance to get in the win column for the first time at home when they face the Devils on Saturday night.
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