It was almost a different kind of heartbreak for the Islanders. Instead, they are back in this Eastern Conference final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
They could not hold a two-goal lead in the third period but responded with two goals after the Lightning tied it, winning Friday night's Game 3, 5-3, at Rogers Place in Edmonton to pull within 2-1 in the series.
Brock Nelson scored the winner from the right circle at 16:35 of the third period off Anthony Beauvillier's feed after Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over in his zone.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau added an empty-netter at 19:24.
The Islanders were coming off a potentially devastating 2-1 loss in Wednesday night's Game 2 as Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with 8.8 seconds remaining, ruining an otherwise solid performance.
It certainly was more representative of the way the Islanders have played in the postseason than their fatigued 8-2 loss in Monday night's Game 1.
The Islanders will look to even the series in Sunday afternoon's Game 4.
Both teams played shorthanded, with the Islanders missing Casey Cizikas (undisclosed reasons) and the Lightning without two of their top-six forwards in an injured Brayden Point and a suspended Alex Killorn.
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for the Islanders and the Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots.
The Lightning cut the Islanders' lead to 3-2 on Ondrej Palat's power-play redirection of Kucherov's feed from the right circle at 2:32 of the third period.
Trying to protect a two-goal lead, Jordan Eberle made the mistake of taking an offensive-zone holding penalty against defenseman Erik Cernak.
Tyler Johnson then deflected Cernak's shot from the right point to tie the score at 3-3 at 12:04, the goal withstanding a review to see if Johnson's stick was high.
The Islanders took a 3-1 lead with two second-period goals in two minutes.
Defenseman Scott Mayfield used his glove to keep the puck in at the blue line as the Islanders' first power play expired and Pageau fed Adam Pelech into the left circle. The defenseman's rising shot went over Vasilevskiy's glove for a 2-1 lead at 11:50, his first career playoff goal.
Anders Lee and the Lightning's Cedric Paquette were called for roughing minors after the whistle and, with the teams skating four-on-four, Nelson skated behind the Lightning net and fed an open Beauvillier in front for a two-goal lead at 13:50.
Still, the Islanders started Game 3 struggling to clear their defensive zone and transporting the puck through the neutral zone.
For instance, defensemen Andy Greene _ on ice for Kucherov's Game 2 winner _ and Nick Leddy had a way-too-long shift of two minutes off the game's opening faceoff as the Islanders were hemmed in.
Varlamov made 13 first-period saves but Mikhail Sergachev tied the score at 1-1 at 16:31 as the Islanders again could not push the puck out of their zone and were caught scrambling defensively.
Yanni Gourde fed a cutting Sergachev _ who slipped past Cal Clutterbuck into the slot _ and Sergachev lifted a backhander over Varlamov's glove.
Clutterbuck had given the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 12:58, just 11 seconds after Pageau somehow missed an open look at the right post.
Vasilevskiy unsuccessfully sought to get a stoppage in play because his goalie pad had come loose, but there was no whistle and Clutterbuck lifted a shot to the short side from the slot off Ryan Pulock's feed.
Pulock's eighth assist of the postseason is the most for an Islanders defenseman since the team won its four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83.
Devon Toews' secondary assist on Beauvillier's goal also gave him eight assists.
