CHICAGO — Something needs to change for the Islanders after Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks snapped their fourth straight loss and put them 2-6-2 in their last 10 games. There is no room for debate as to whether there is.
But the team doesn't seem ready to throw coach Lane Lambert under the bus for the Islanders' fall from second to seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.
“I understand what you're probably hinting at, but we don't want that,” Matt Martin told the Post when asked if the team needed a boost. “We want to go out and start playing hockey. At the end of the day, it's on us. It's on us, the players.
“Coaches, they can give you all the X’s and O’s, the game plan, the systems, all the video. If we go out there and we don’t perform and play well enough to win, it’s our fault. It’s a responsibility.”
If social media is any indication, Islanders fans are ready to show Lambert the door after the team's record dropped to 19-15-11.
And if general manager Lou Lamoriello believes change is needed, having internal support doesn't mean his job is safe.
However, management and players alike have shown their support for Lambert through chants for Lambert's head at UBS Arena in early November, indicating they already have a higher opinion of Lambert than the fan base this season. There is.
After then losing seven straight games, the Islanders managed to turn things around and put together their best four weeks of the season.
Lamoriello was not on the road this week, with assistant GM Chris Lamoriello replacing his father on the four-city road trip, and is not one to publicly share his thoughts on such matters.
However, Lambert himself agreed with Martin that the onus is on the players to fix this.
“There's leadership in that room. We have players that need to play better,” he said. “The impact has to come from within.” [as the coaching staff]”
Kyle MacLean skated 10 minutes, 21 seconds in his NHL debut and received positive reviews from his head coach.
“He skates well,” Lambert said. “As we progress here, you can see the confidence factor and confidence level in him increasing and it's really encouraging to see that. I thought he had a good game in the first game.”
McClain played on the fourth line between Martin and Cal Clutterbuck and had a blocked shot and a hit.
“Obviously I think you're a little nervous and a little frustrated,” he said. “I felt better as the match went on. And they helped me a lot.”
Lambert said Semyon Varlamov has recovered from a lower-body injury and is now skating by himself every day.
