A couple of weeks ago, Lane Lambert said he felt like figuring out the third period would be the last piece of the puzzle for the Islanders.
A more precise way to put it would have been that figuring out how to play a full 60 minutes would be the last piece of the puzzle for the Islanders.
Because since Lambert said that following a meltdown in the final period at home against San Jose, the Islanders have been just fine in the third period.
They closed out a game against the Blue Jackets, came back to force overtime and eventually win against the Kings and found a game-winner against Anaheim.
Then on Saturday in Montreal, they nearly overturned a 4-0 deficit, getting within 4-3 before Christian Dvorak’s empty-netter gave the Canadiens a 5-3 win.
What remains baffling, and what is still costing the Islanders even as their play has turned the corner in a significant way, is how rare it is for them to put together a complete game.
Thirty games into the season, the Islanders have played just 11 games that were decided by more than one goal. Only three of those were victories.
Some of that is because they still haven’t scored into an empty net this year.
And yes, the other teams are trying to win, too. But as a whole, that points to a team that very rarely turns in a full 60 minutes.
Saturday, by far the worst example of late as it was just their second regulation loss in the last month, did come with the possible explanation of being the Islanders’ seventh game in 12 days.
That was rejected in the dressing room after, though it is notable that the Isles are 0-4 on the second end of a back-to-back so far this year.
Two days of rest before another back-to-back at home against the Oilers and in Washington should be a needed breather.
“There’s never an excuse for that,” captain Anders Lee said. “All teams go through stretches like this. Yeah, it’s been a lot of hockey, but we gotta find a way to be a little sharper. When you’re not feeling great, might be a little more tired, we talk about it all the time, just the emphasis on making simple plays.”
That was just what the Islanders failed to do early in the game against the Canadiens, whose forecheck gave the Isles fits.
Until the third period, they just couldn’t seem to make a clean first pass or exit their own zone effectively, and thus never held on to the puck.
“I think they were maybe just one step ahead there in the beginning,” Pierre Engvall said. “I think they were jumping on every puck. They were a little bit hungry in the beginning there, but gotta take the positive with us from the game and we bounced back pretty good in the last [period] there.”
Fair enough — consistently keeping games close does have its positives. And the Islanders’ ability to scrape out a point (which they ultimately failed to do Saturday) is part of the reason they’re in a playoff spot right now.
But their eight overtime losses is also tied for the most in the league.
If they hung on to more leads — or better put, if they turned in 60 minutes of good hockey more often — they would be breathing down the Rangers’ necks for first place right now.
Instead they are seven points back after the Blueshirts did on Saturday what the Islanders had failed to do on Friday and beat the Bruins.
And if they do make the playoffs, you can bet they will not get anywhere by consistently playing 30 or 40 good minutes.