With 2:38 left in the third last night, Miroslav Satan scored a rare power play goal for the Islanders, knotting their game with Dallas at 2-2.
“After that goal, I felt the bench came alive again,” Satan said. “It took us awhile to get back in the game.”
The feeling didn’t last long. Mike Modano scored 35 seconds into overtime, his second goal of the night, to give Dallas a 3-2 win at Nassau Coliseum as the Isles’ offensive woes continued and Rick DiPietro could not bail his teammates out again.
Modano pounced on a rebound of a Stephane Robidas shot for the game-winner.
“It’s just one of those things,” head coach Ted Nolan said after his team lost, playing in overtime for the first time of the season. “The puck went to one of the most skilled guys in the history of the game.”
Still, it was the ninth straight match in which the Islanders didn’t score more than two goals – and all of those matches have been decided by one goal. They are 4-4-1 during that stretch.
“It’s real frustrating,” Mike Comrie said. “We’ve had so many close chances. Goals that you think are in, don’t cross the line . . . chances you’d like to have back.”
The defense was strong again, which is enough for Brendan Witt.
“It’ll come,” the defenseman said of the offense. “The main thing is we’re playing well defensively.”
Fourth-liner Richard Park scored for the second straight game, this one a shorthanded goal that gave the Isles a 1-0 lead in the second when Dallas goalie Marty Turco ventured far out of the crease.
Park had another chance with a man down soon after, both coming on a penalty by Bill Guerin, who had a nightmarish game. The captain, who entered the match with just eight penalty minutes, had six last night.
The Isles surrendered the lead and then fell behind 6:07 into the third, when a long pass from Sergei Zubov deflected off of Mike Sillinger’s stick, setting up Jeff Halpern’s one-timer.