Another Drop In the Frustration Bucket

Islanders 3: Thrashers 4

Up front, the Thrashers are much in the same boat as the Islanders have been for the start of this season: losing games, dwelling around the Eastern Conference cellar, and unsure of just what to do to remedy it.

But the one thing the Thrashers can do that the Isles have not done very well is play in the third period- and play they did, scoring three third-period goals to rally past New York, 4-3- you guessed it- after the Isles had a lead going into the final 20 minutes of play.

It didn't matter that backup goaltender Ondrej Pavelec allowed six goals in his previous start. Against the Isles he had a rough go for 40 minutes, allowing one goal in the first five minutes by Jon Sim, and then, while tied at 1, allowing two goals in 17 seconds, one by Frans Nielsen on what was almost a botched play, and then one by Trent Hunter on a pretty setup by Nielsen, in the second period. Atlanta has been outscored 23-6 in second periods this season.

However, the Isles have been outscored by about 30-11 in third periods, and that stat didn't change in this game. Slava Kozlov scored his second of the game and eighth of the year, Jason Williams scored on the PP, and then Tobias Enstrom put the Thrashers in the lead, and a frustrated Scott Gordon said after the game that the Isles "just stopped skating."

Another lead eliminated. Another mark in the "loss" column. Another game in which the Islanders just did not have the winning formula in the third period, the kind of game that ensures a win. And it's back to the drawing board when it comes to holding a lead.