WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Casey Cizikas was rooted in his stall inside Canada Life Centre late Friday night, replaying the sequence over in his head. 

Adam Boqvist evaded some defenders around the Winnipeg net, opening some space for Cizikas and sent the puck toward him. It was the tying goal on Cizikas’ stick with 7:55 to go in the third.

Connor Hellebuyck was out of position. 

And then Hellebuyck was right in position, getting his glove over in time for the puck to glance harmlessly off it. 

“Maybe when I watch it over, maybe I could’ve done something — I don’t f–king know. Sorry, I don’t know,” Cizikas told The Post after the Islanders lost 4-3 to the Jets on Friday night. “He made a good save there. But that’s tough. I’m going over it in my mind over and over again right now. 

“Was there something else? Could I have done something else? In that moment, trying to get it off, he was down. His glove just comes across and makes the save. You gotta tip your cap to him. That’s a hell of a save.” 

This was the sort of loss that made all the small differences between the Islanders and the league-leading Jets feel big.

None more than Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy front-runner who stopped 32 shots including 18 of 19 during an Islanders onslaught in the third period to secure the win. 

In addition to Cizikas’ chance, the Islanders spent two straight minutes throwing pucks at the net on a late power play, but could not get one by.

Kyle Palmieri also had a late look with the goalie out of position, but Mark Scheifele came over to block it in his place. 

It was the goalie, along with the difference between the two teams’ top lines, that made the difference in this one. 

The Jets’ top trio of Kyle Connor, Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi put in two goals at five-on-five and forced the issue all night long.

Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair’s line, by comparison, didn’t score and were on for two goals against, with Horvat and Duclair on for a third to boot. 

All other context aside, that’s tough to overcome on any night. 

“We had our chances,” coach Patrick Roy said. “[Hellebuyck] made some good savers. Sometimes the puck bounces your way, sometimes it does not. Tonight it did not.” 

The Islanders got contributions from their bottom six on Friday when their first two goals came via Simon Holmstrom and Marc Gatcomb.

Their stars have generally played solid hockey over the last month, but ever so quietly, the top line has trailed off. 

Horvat is still producing at just under a point-per-game over the last 10, but Lee — for just about all season the Isles’ best offensive performer — has just three points over the same period.

Duclair, who’s been elevated to the top group since Mathew Barzal got hurt last weekend, still has yet to make an imprint since returning from a presumed groin injury in mid-December, and again was not noticeable Friday. 

So you have the sort of game that played out Friday night, in which the Islanders hung tight and played at the Jets’ speed for portions of the match, but just didn’t have enough. 

After the Islanders seized a 2-1 lead in the first, the Jets took back control with three straight goals in a dominant second. 

Two came from Vilardi, who got behind Boqvist off the rush to tie the game at two, then hit the underside of the crossbar — the puck crossing the line — to take advantage of a discombobulated 30 seconds for the Islanders that made it 4-2. 

In between, Nikolaj Ehlers ripped in Cole Perfetti’s feed from behind the net to give the Jets a 3-2 lead at the 14:50 mark, with the Winnipeg crowd chanting “New York sucks” in the background. 

“I think we gave them a little bit as far as turnovers,” Palmieri said. “Just a couple disconnected plays.” 

The Islanders did cut the lead back to one on Palmieri’s goal at 11:07 of the third, but that did not portend a comeback, thanks to Hellebuyck’s heroics. 

Since the new year, the Islanders have come a long way, both as a team and in the playoff race But there’s still a marked difference between them and the Jets. 

At a different point in the season, one could take some encouragement from the way the Islanders hung tight. 

But with the playoff cutline four points off and one game left before the 4 Nations break, this is about points lost and not a moral victory gained.