As we’ve often seen, teams coming off extended rest time (such as the Islanders’ 5 days between games) have struggled early in their next game. The Isles were no exception this, and were completely dominated by the Nashville Predators in the first period of tonight’s hockey game. The three goals scored in quick succession at the end of the first were too much for the Islanders to come back from, despite a strong second period effort, as they fell 5-2 and the Predators swept the season series.
Robin Lehner really kept the Islanders in the game early on, as the Preds outshot, out-chanced, and overall outplayed the Isles, who looked like they were sleepwalking through the period.