The Islanders didn't play well for the first 45 minutes of the game, they only played well for the middle 40 minutes of the game.
Interestingly, that didn't help them turn things around.
The Islanders, who dropped Wednesday's game 6-3 to the Bruins, have lost five of their past six games and two of their last three on a homestand that looked like a chance to turn things around. That's it.
The Islanders were not ready to play in this game, losing 2-0 and forcing Patrick Roy to call a timeout within 6:31 of the game.
That helped shape things up a bit, but the damage had already been done.
Not being able to play 60 minutes has been a feature of the club for more than a year. It doesn't matter if the last 10 or the first 10 are off.
At the end of the day, the result is the same, but in this case they got both right.
Give the Islanders some credit for not giving up in this game despite a lackluster start and riding the wagons around a club that finished with an 8-10-5 record on Thanksgiving. I want you to give it to me. That means they only won a third of their games on Thanksgiving. A traditional season quarter mark would be a bit much.
Brock Nelson knocked the puck past Joonas Korpisalo with 20 seconds left, giving the Islanders the lead and tying the game at three with 20 minutes left.
However, the Islanders were unable to capitalize on that momentum.
They applied pressure at the start of the third period, but were unable to convert it into a goal.
The Bruins then made it 4-3 with 10:48 left in the game when Pavel Zasha deflected a point shot from Andrew Peek.
Just a few minutes later, with the Islanders' resolve clearly drained, David Pastrnak fed Zasha up front to make it 5-3, prompting Lamoriello-esque “Fire Roo” chants from the crowd.
The Islanders were held scoreless on their only power play of the night, with Nikita Zadorov scoring into an empty net with just over two minutes remaining after leaving the penalty area.
Ilya Sorokin has been a great player this season, according to Natural Stat Trick, but he didn't play at all in Wednesday's game, with six dangerous chances leading to Boston's first five goals.
You could say this was another game that we lost in the third period. But calling it a game the Islanders lost in the first few minutes would be just as accurate, if not more so.
Brad Marchand scored two goals for the Bruins in the opening minutes of the game, the first coming just 57 seconds after Elias Lindholm won a clean faceoff and Marchand sent the puck into the net.
Roy forced a timeout and scored the extra point after Justin Brazeau found him in the frame for a tip-in goal.
Maxim Tsyplakov pulled the Islanders back up 2-1 after Brock Nelson forced a turnover on the forecheck, and Tsyplakov slipped the puck between Korpisalo's legs 12:50 into the period.
Nelson scored two more points in the second period, first capitalizing on a Mason Rollei error and scoring on momentum, finishing seconds before the buzzer.
In between, the Bruins scored on Morgan Geeky, who was unguarded on a cross-ice feed from Zaka to the left field goal.
But the Islanders' slow start didn't benefit them more than not being able to close out the game.
They may still have a shot at making the playoffs. They may still be battling injuries. But as of now, the Islanders are a team with just eight wins for the team that bears its name on Thanksgiving Day.
Like it or not, that's the reality.
