Islanders power play fumbles one of seasons biggest chances in shootout loss to Blue Jackets

There’s plenty of examples of the Islanders power play failing to win them games this year.This was the first example of the Islanders power play actively losing them a game.At five-on-five, the Islanders absolutely dominated the Blue Jackets on Monday night — playing up ice, forechecking and doing all the right things to dismiss a young, upstart Columbus team and extend a five-game points streak to six.At five-on-four, they allowed a shorthanded goal and saw their momentum get sapped at every turn, letting the Blue Jackets straight back into the game and opening the door for Columbus to come back on them, with Adam Fantilli’s shootout winner culminating in a 4-3 collapse at UBS Arena.The loss not only means that the Blue Jackets are a point behind the Islanders in the standings, but it also prevents the Islanders from moving ahead of the Rangers in the standings and from tying the Canadiens on points before Montreal faces the Blues on Tuesday.In other words: The Islanders fumbled one of their biggest opportunities of the season in a fashion that would make Wile E.Coyote blush.They built an early 2-0 lead and gave the Blue Jackets no quarter at five-on-five, but things started to go wrong as soon as Damon Severson was called for tripping Bo Horvat early in the second.Columbus easily killed off the penalty, and the Islanders’ disjointedness suddenly extended into even strength.

Shortly thereafter, Fantilli cut the lead in half with a goal off the rush.The second power play was even worse, with Boone Jenner tying the game off a shorthanded rush at 17:13 of the second.Anders Lee put the Islanders back up 3-2 almost immediately after the game went back to even strength, but the damage had been done and the door had been opened.Even at five-on-five, where the Islanders had absolutely dominated earlier, they were now pushed back onto their heels.The Blue Jackets parlayed their momentum to tie the game up at three with 7:04 to go in the third — this goal at fiv...