Islanders fired up by late whistle that cost them power play

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the Islanders were frustrated with a call late in Monday’s game.

This one, though, was on a call that was eventually made on Ben Chiarot for boarding Anders Lee at the 16:10 mark of an eventual 4-2 loss to the Red Wings at UBS Arena.

The Islanders were upset over the fact that the call was not made until after Lee got up and fought Chiarot, incurring a double-minor for roughing.

So, what would have been an Islanders power play had the call been immediately made instead turned into a pair of four-minute penalties canceling each other out, with Chiarot picking up a roughing call in addition to the boarding.

Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot (8) fight during the third period when the New York Islanders played the Detroit Red Wings Monday, November 25, 2024 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“I think they decided to give him one once they knew they could give Anders one as well,” Brock Nelson said. “It is what it is. It’s beyond our control, you have to go out there and play.”

Coach Patrick Roy echoed the sentiment, while adding that Chiarot’s hit was roughly equivalent to Grant Hutton’s late in the second period on Tyler Motte, which did draw a quick whistle.

New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot (8) fight during the third period when the New York Islanders played the Detroit Red Wings Monday, November 25, 2024 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“We should’ve had a power play at the end, personally,” Roy said. “I don’t think there was a big difference between the one they called against Hutton or that one. Actually, I think this one was probably worse than the Hutton [one].”

Roy said he would consider changing the power-play units after the Islanders went 0-for-3 on the man advantage Monday. The club has just two power-play goals in its past nine games and is an abysmal 8-for-63 (12.69 percent) on the season.

“We just like to use our lines and then have guys fresh,” Roy said, referring to the current makeup of the units which features the top line and second line each making up 3/5 of either one. “… Sometimes you just want to have fresh guys out there, that’s the luxury we have when we do that. But it’s certainly a possibility to look at our lines, yes.”

Alexander Romanov, who had previously dealt with an upper-body injury, was a surprise scratch on Monday night, with the team citing illness and calling him day-to-day. Scott Mayfield moved to the top pair with Noah Dobson while Hutton came back into the lineup to play on the third pair with Dennis Cholowski.

Anthony Duclair (suspected groin) and Adam Pelech (jaw) have both started skating on their own, according to the Islanders. Duclair is well within the original 4-6 week timeline for his return.