The Islanders’ season is officially in a spiral.
Not only did they lose a crucial four-point game at home to the Lightning on Saturday.
That said, if the 4-2 loss is any indication of what they’re capable of, pretending they’re even in the playoff race is an illusion.
A seven point difference with less than two months left is not an impossible difference to make up.
But if the Islanders can play like they did late in the third period on Saturday, that’s for sure.
Over the past two weeks, the Islanders are 1-3-2.
Over the course of the season, they won more games (23) than just five teams.
Their goal differential is better than just three teams in the Eastern Conference.
The only reason the Islanders can mathematically make the playoffs is because the NHL rewards games they lose in overtime.
But reality is catching up. And the complete lack of urgency shown in the first two periods Saturday suggests the Isles aren’t going to force a change there.
Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored back-to-back goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, turning a 3-0 deficit into 3-2 and rekindling their confidence.
If the Isles had played the same 60 minutes as they had in the past 10 minutes, they probably would have scored two points and been eliminated.
However, they were unable to score an equalizer and the final score reflected the first 50 minutes of play after Luke Glendening’s empty goal.
In a must-play game on their home ice against a team they beat 6-2 at UBS Arena just a few weeks ago, the Islanders got off to a lackluster start, but quickly paid the price. Well, I didn’t do anything. Find their game until it’s too late.
Adam Pelech trips Nikita Kucherov just 2:05 into the game, the Isles fail to clear the zone after converting the ensuing penalty, and Brandon Hagel’s rebound comes just seven seconds after Pelech leaves the box. was allowed to be cleaned up by Nick Paul.
Bo Horvat tied it 30 seconds later when he redirected a Matt Barzal feed, and it looked like they might have survived, but the goal was returned on a Tampa Bay offsides appeal.
Faced with that adversity, the Islanders allowed another goal on the next shift when Braden Point tipped a shot off Kucherov.
It was the 14th time this season the Islanders allowed two or more goals within five minutes. And it didn’t get any better from there.
The Islanders had two power-play chances in the second period, but that only made their recent 5-on-4 record a little worse — 8-of-47 as of Jan. 13. There is.
During that time, Point took advantage of Matt Martin’s boarding penalty and fired a shot on goal that missed Ilya Sorokin’s shoulder to make it 3-0.
The energy level never rose, and the home fans went into the second intermission booing their team.
Early in the third, there were scattered cries from the crowd calling for general manager Lou Lamoriello to be fired or retired.
By the time Lee made it 6-on-5 with 6 minutes and 16 seconds left, 114 minutes and 44 seconds had elapsed since the Islanders’ last goal. Despite getting interesting towards the end, the damage proved to be too much to overcome.
A lack of urgency is a common thread this season. In the same way, one mistake leads to more.
These are not things playoff teams do.
Lamoriello was hopeful that things could change when Patrick Roy made a coaching change in mid-January. It looks like Roy will take more time to impose the culture needed to win.
The Islanders have pretty much the same group of players, and it’s like they used to play in large numbers.
No one knows why, but it seems to be stagnant.
Saturday was far from the first on display this season.
But it may be one of the most significant.
Because the further the Islanders get from the playoff cut line, the harder it becomes to deny what’s in front of them.
