PITTSBURGH — For most of the season, the Islanders have been on a three-game winning streak to get people to take them seriously in the playoff race.
They will need to reset that clock after Sunday.
In their second game against the Penguins in less than 24 hours, the Islanders, who had a chance to get back into NHL-500 and were just shy of the playoff cut line, lost 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. He suffered a total defeat.
Admittedly, with a record of 14 wins, 16 losses, and 7 losses after 37 games, it's hard to take all of that seriously as a candidate.
The team is no different, unable to string together winning streaks, with only two set wins all year, none of which have been followed by a third set.
Hitting streaks have been an issue for the Islanders for several seasons now, and Sunday was a familiar story as the Islanders looked lackluster and lacking in detail when they played the night before.
After the Isles' 6-3 win over Pittsburgh on Long Island on Saturday night, at least both teams were in the same situation, with the Penguins and Islanders alike struggling to connect passes.
A brutal second period in which the Islanders went scoreless on two power plays and only made four shots at 5-on-5 ended the night with Patrick Roy changing lines to try to create some kind of spark. Summarized.
Max Tsyplakov, who was demoted to the fourth row on Saturday night, returned to his usual position in the second row, replaced by Simon Holmström and Anthony Duclair, but nothing changed.
Meanwhile, the penalty kill allowed the 14th goal of the game, with Michael Bunting free in the crease and hitting a feed from Sidney Crosby.
The No. 87 assist meant he passed Mario Lemieux for the Penguins' franchise record in that category, and he received a standing ovation from the home crowd.
It was a close 2-0 going into the final 20 minutes, but it felt like a mountain to climb considering the Islanders struggled with puck-outs and noticeable action in the offensive zone.
After the Penguins scored their second goal on the power play, it looked like it was over for the Islanders, this time when Filip Tomasino banked the puck from Alexander Romanov and scored his third goal at 6:56.
Anders Lee scored twice on a 6-on-5 run to get within 3-2 with 3:50 left in regulation time, but the Islanders couldn't find the tying goal they needed.
If there was a silver lining, it was Marcus Hogberg's performance in goal in his first start.
The Swede stopped 37 shots and wasn't at fault for any of the goals, but the Islanders had little help in front of their netminder, who hadn't started an NHL game in nearly four years. .
It didn't matter, though, that the Islanders allowed a backdoor goal on a rush from old friend Anthony Beauvillier 3:54 into the game.
This put the islanders at a disadvantage, and they ended up spending most of the night there.
In fact, they'll likely stay there as long as winning three games, let alone three, is a huge challenge.
The situation in the East means the poor record means the Islanders are still lurking on the fringes of the race and are still a long way off winning streak before becoming a real factor.
Given the situation of the islanders, there is not much reason to think such an event is imminent.
