NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Once you got previous the Semyon Varlamov of it all on Tuesday, there was the matter of the hockey the Islanders performed in beating the Predators 4-3 in a shootout.

After coach Pete DeBoer went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and basically challenged his workforce following a loss in Dallas he said was their first poor efficiency all season, the Islanders responded in variety.

It wasn’t excellent — truly, it was almost disastrous, as the Islanders fumbled a 3-0 lead, then failed to rating with almost 4 minutes at 4-on-3 in extra time — but DeBoer’s facet had the qualities they’d lacked against the Stars.

Kyle Palmieri scores a purpose in the shootout during the Islanders’ 4-3 win over the Predators on Oct. 27, 2026 in Nashville, Tenn. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

They were up ice and bodily, their passes crisp and their battle degree excessive. The finest instance all night time came at the begin of the second interval, when the Islanders handed the puck around the zone for almost a minute with out pause before Matthew Schaefer’s feed across gave Bo Horvat a one-timer to rocket previous Juuse Saros and make it 3-0.

“We got back to our identity tonight,” Brayden Schenn said. “We know we have to play that way in order to be successful. It’s a gritty, hard-nosed game. Play good defense.”

Of course, that alone didn’t imply this was simple.

The Islanders let the Predators back in on Filip Forsberg’s power-play purpose at 9:42 of the second, making it 3-1, and from there, issues got bushy.

Just over three minutes later, off a uncommon Matthew Schaefer turnover when the defenseman got crossed up with Ondrej Palat attempting to exit the zone, Alexander Kerfoot got the Predators within 3-2.

When the Islanders’ fourth energy play of the night time went nowhere — just as their first three had — the Predators wasted no time in making them pay. Daemon Hunt’s preliminary shot trickled through Varlamov’s pads before Ryan O’Reilly stuffed it in to tie the recreation at 4:16 of the third.

The Islanders were on their heels late in regulation, requiring a few scrambling defensive shifts to get the recreation to extra time, but they would finally earn the further level.

After Schaefer was tripped at the begin of extra time, the Islanders exhausted the Predators for a ridiculous 1:45 on a delayed call before Nashville lastly got a contact.

Still, one way or the other, the Islanders — opting to go away Schaefer, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom out for nicely over 4 minutes of extra time, and Schaefer for all 5 — couldn’t convert on the energy play itself. (Schaefer, who completed with a career-high 32:16 of ice, is the first participant to go all 5 minutes of extra time in the post-lockout period.)

Shootout targets from Kyle Palmieri and Horvat sealed it anyway.

“I thought it was a great response, and I knew we would get that response,” DeBoer said. “I think the guys knew and came out and played great.”