The Islanders’ season is officially spiraling.
It is not just that they lost a crucial four-point game to the Lightning on home ice Saturday.
It is that if the 4-2 defeat is any indication of their capabilities, then it is fantasy to pretend they are even in the playoff race.
Seven points back with just under two months to go isn’t an impossible gap to make up.
But it sure is if the Islanders play like they did until late in the third period on Saturday.
Over the past two weeks, the Islanders are 1-3-2.
Over the season, they have won more games (23) than just five teams.
Their goal differential is better than just three teams in the Eastern Conference.
“Not at all,” Noah Dobson said, asked if it felt like the season was slipping away. “We got 20-something games left here. Similar situation to where we were in last year. Obviously we need to start winning games and getting points. The group knows that. We know how to get it done.”
The only reason the Islanders have a mathematical shot at the playoffs is because the NHL rewards losing games in overtime.
But reality is catching up.
And the total lack of urgency on display for the first two periods on Saturday suggests the Isles are not going to force a change there.
“First 40, there wasn’t a whole lot to like there,” Kyle Palmieri said. “We had the chance to try and claw back into it and at least push it to OT, and it didn’t happen.”
Consecutive goals from Anders Lee and Brock Nelson in the game’s final 10 minutes pulled a 3-0 deficit back to 3-2 and reignited some belief.
If the Isles had played for 60 minutes like they did for the last 10, they likely would have walked out with two points.
But they never found the equalizer and the final score ultimately reflected the way they played for the first 50 minutes after Luke Glendening’s empty-net goal.
In an absolute gotta-have-it game on home ice against a team they beat 6-2 at home just a couple weeks ago, the Islanders put forth a low-energy start to the game, immediately paid for it and didn’t find their game until it was much too late.
Adam Pelech tripped Nikita Kucherov just 2:05 into the match and, even after the Isles killed the ensuing penalty, they couldn’t clear the zone, allowing Nick Paul to clean up Brandon Hagel’s rebound just seven seconds after Pelech came out of the box.
They appeared to survive it when Bo Horvat redirected Mat Barzal’s feed to tie the game 30 seconds later, but the goal came back after a Tampa Bay challenge for offside.
Faced with that adversity, the Islanders let up another goal on the next shift, with Brayden Point tipping in Kucherov’s shot.
“Is it lack of confidence or it’s just bad luck at the wrong time,” coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s how I see it.”
It was the 14th time this season that the Islanders have let up two or more goals in a span of five or fewer minutes.
And it didn’t get any better from there.
The Islanders got two power-play chances in the second period, which served only to make their recent stats at five-on-four look a little worse — it’s now 8-for-47 dating back to Jan. 13.
In between, Point took advantage of Matt Martin’s boarding penalty to make it 3-0 with a shot that went off Ilya Sorokin’s shoulder and in.
The home fans booed their team into the second intermission.
Early in the third, there were scattered shouts from the crowd for general manager Lou Lamoriello to be fired or retire.
By the time Lee scored at six-on-five with 6:16 to go, it had been 114:44 since the Islanders’ last goal — damage that proved too much to overcome, even after they made it interesting late.
“I cannot say we had a bad game,” Roy said. “That’s what I said to them after the second period. It was tight out there, there was no room. It was like playoff hockey where there was barely any chances on both sides.”
Despite the optimistic spin from the head coach, the Islanders’ lack of urgency has been a common thread this season. So too one mistake compounding into more.
These are not things that playoff teams do.
The further the Islanders get from the playoff cutline, the harder it is to deny what’s in front of them.
