Los Angeles – Unlucky, poor play.
And there's a fusion of both.
It's the only way to explain the islanders' play on Tuesday night in a disastrous 4-1 defeat to the Kings at crypto.com arena.
Instead of once on this trip, two times the islanders had the chance to reach within three points of the playoff spot.
Their competition in the Eastern wildcard race is not covered precisely in glory, but the islanders have to make up for the ground and this week they failed the perfect opportunity to do just that.
This time, it's a much more difficult task to enter the playoffs than in the same time as the last two seasons, but even the efforts made by the islanders in Los Angeles are far better than two nights in Anaheim, but it wasn't always inspirational.
The islanders managed to turn this into a defensive game, but it was King who took advantage of the island's errors, taking in most of the limited possibilities available.
But it was the Kings video staff who made the most of the difference on the ice, who managed to achieve not one but two obvious islanders' goals in the second term due to goaltender interference.
The first one looked open and shut. Simon Holmstrom clearly moved the Darsy Cou Emper out of the fold, creating an opportunity for Kyle Palmieri to jam the pack.
The second Anders Lee approached a 50/50 call as Lee's skate touched the crease and touched Couenper, but it appears he hasn't affected him with the same player's backhand goal.
Thus, instead of entering the second break tied at three, the islanders faced a two-goal deficit, and after Tony Dengero's stick exploded a pass, Quintinbyfield gave Shorten's breakaway, which he easily buried.
Bad breaks don't erase what was less irritating for 60 minutes.
But it must be said that the game had as many bad breaks as the islanders have been struggling all season. Team statistician Eric Hornik was the first time the Islands had called back two goals in the game for a challenge.
Injuring the inhume, the islanders lost Adam Bokvist in the second term, and the defensive man did not return to the game after receiving a hard shoulder check from Kevin Fiara.
When things got worse with the power play, the islanders failed to convert a 5-3 for a minute in the third term, and a short-handed goal in the evening's power play, a staggering 0-7 with an 8-7 target.
Eighth of that, the Islanders' net was empty, so the Kings scored the second short-handed goal of the night, scoring Drew Dauty.
Even if you need caution about your overthrown goals, you won't give up on a night when the islanders spent their fourth in the game on power play and failed to score with a man's advantage.
Vladislav Gavrikov opened up the score at the first 15:33, ripping one timer 40 seconds after reducing the delay in penalty call at Deangelo.
After Lee tied it up at the second 8:37, it took Philip Danaw only 37 seconds to give the King a lead.
Then came a comedy of shorthand goals that was overthrown in a power play. This hurts twice as much on a night when the islanders struggled to maintain 5-5 pressure in the attack zone.
The islanders can thank the teams surrounding them in their rankings that they don't have the opportunity to clean up them forever in this week's playoff race. But that is not goodwill they can depend on and continue.
This is, for now, the feel of the season is slipping down in slow motion. It is up to the islanders to reverse this.
