The rifts between the islanders are accumulating and becoming deep rifts.
In the first game back home after a four-game road trip, defenseman Adam Pelech returned to the lineup and the Isles faced the Canucks on the second night of a back-to-back. I took action. We lost to Vancouver 5-2.
What's even more concerning is that this is the fourth loss in the past five games, dropping their record since December 15th to 4 wins, 5 losses, and 3 draws.
Apart from losing in extra time, this means they have only won four of their last 12 games, meaning there is only so much time they can survive in the tight Metropolitan Division if they collect loser points. ing. Only two points separated the third-place Isles and Penguins. 7th at the start of the day.
Perek hasn't been at his best after coming back from what appears to be a wrist injury, and Ilya Sorokin, who played in seven consecutive games while Semyon Varlamov was injured, is in good form, stopping 28 of 32 shots. It's been a season that hasn't been great.
The problem is, the Islanders need their goaltenders to be good right now, as their defense isn't exactly great.
On Tuesday, they were forced multiple times by the red-hot Canucks, who dominated the hometown team, beat the forecheck and struggled to deal with superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes.
The pairing of Hughes and Filip Hronek contributed to each of the first two goals, but Hronek scored at the 16:25 mark of the first half, shortly after Casey Cizikas limped off after blocking a slap shot by Nikita Zadorov. He scored a goal and added to the injury. (Cizikas briefly returned, but left the game completely the second time).
Hughes entered the game just over two minutes later, walking from the circle to the slot and then pulling off a spectacular individual move to make it 2-0.
It only got worse from there.
Following a Pelech turnover, Elias Pettersson and JT Miller played catch across the crease, and Pettersson scored his second goal at 10:20, making it 3-0.
And just after Brock Nelson's power-play goal seemed to give the Islanders something to advance on, the Canucks started tipping the ice again.
It culminated with Tyler Myers cleanly beating Sorokin with a slap shot from the top of the right circle to give Vancouver a 4-1 lead going into the second intermission — the kind Sorokin rarely throws. It was a shot of
There was also no late comeback effort that awaited the Islanders.
With a three-goal lead, the Islanders couldn't get much of a boost other than Nelson's face-saving goal in the second half.
Within seconds of the Isles pulling Sorokin, Dakota Joshua drained the basket, ending any hopes of a comeback.
The most concerning thing about Tuesday was that the Islanders faced a team that played on Monday after two days of rest and looked like a slower, less energetic team.
It wasn't even particularly close.
A close second is Sorokin, who hasn't played to his 2022-23 level all season, conceding four goals for the 15th time this year in 28 starts.
It's unfair to blame the goalkeeper. Because he faces more shots than anyone in the league, and he plays in front of a defense that keeps getting hit all year.
But it's far from ideal, and as of Tuesday, he was far from his best.
At this time, the islanders are often depicted as far from ideal.
