TAMPA, Fla. — The Islanders continue to run into different versions of the same fundamental problem, best illustrated by the fact that they have definitely lost more than they have won this season.
There is no head coach, line combination, or strategy that can compensate for a group of players who aren’t playing their best with anything like regularity.
That doesn’t mean the Islanders can’t make the playoffs, just that the main contenders in the self-deprecating wild-card race all seem to have the same problem.
But Saturday, a 4-1 loss to the Lightning in a game that featured an inconsistent effort from the visiting team, felt like something of a defining moment.
The Athletic front, which included Matthew Barzal, Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson, had locked down their own trio in the name of balance, and the Islanders realized it at the start of the game.
All four lines struggled equally.
Lightning was faster.
Lightning was crispier.
The Lightning won more battles, managed the puck better, and did pretty much everything else better as well.
In the first period alone, Tampa more than tripled the Islanders’ shots.
“It could have been 4-1 or 5-1 after the first game,” Kyle Palmieri said. “But we had a chance to get back in the game.”
The Islanders trailed just 2-1, thanks in large part to the efforts of Semyon Varlamov, who was tasked with making 36 saves in a game that could have been a duel with Andrei Vasilevskiy. The third period arrived.
Manager Patrick Roy abandoned his original line and brought back Pierre Engvall to play with Nelson and Palmieri, with Casey Cizikas playing on Barzal’s left alongside Hudson Fassing and Jean-Gabriel Pageau joining Anders.・After lining up between Lee, the momentum of the attack began to show. And Horvat.
However, the Islanders’ own inconsistency and Vasilevskiy’s difficulty acquiring the puck were too much to overcome.
“We know where we are and we know we need to win the game,” Roy said. “And offensively we probably need to be a little bit better and if we want to score more goals, that’s it.”
Just 21 seconds into the third period, the Lightning extended their lead when Steven Stamkos deflected Emil Lilberg’s shot from the left point (a goal confirmed after a high-stick review) and the Islanders’ balloon. It took the air out of me all at once.
Instead of a push, the next 19 minutes, 41 seconds featured the same spread-out attack that has become the norm these days, relying more on rushing chances than sustained ones.
All that resulted was Varlamov’s early pull, which led directly to Anthony Cirelli’s empty-net goal.
“There are some zone nights where you don’t get long zone time,” Lee said. “Sometimes they’re off the rush and vice versa. Sometimes we might have nights where we’re in the D zone a little bit longer, [take] Shots from the surroundings. Opportunities can also arise from impatience. Not all games are the same. ”
This was certainly one of those nights.
Palmieri put the Islanders ahead with his first shot of the game, throwing the puck toward the net, but Matt Dumba deflected it and it went in.
However, any idea that the lead would last was quickly shattered by the Lightning’s constant pressure, with Darren Radish and Cirelli scoring within 35 seconds of each other, the former scoring on the power play, and with 15:00 left for Tampa. It gave us a well-deserved lead. .
They never let it go.
As has been the reality since about mid-January, the Islanders are in the playoff race less because of their own play and more because of factors outside of their control.
Their main rivals, the Flyers, Capitals and Red Wings, all have more wins than losses, and the best record for any of the three teams on Saturday was a shootout loss.
Somehow, despite them, the Islanders will have a chance to beat the Flyers on Monday night and move three points ahead of the Flyers with two games left.
But even in a low-level playoff race like this, it will take a better performance than the Islanders showed to qualify.
Saturday was just the latest proof.
