SUNRISE, Fla. — Gravity lastly caught up with the Islanders.
For just about your complete length of the seven-game successful streak that bought snapped on Sunday, the Islanders have been accumulating accidents and successful anyway.
It was bordering on the absurd, and that was earlier than Saturday, when the Islanders gritted out a win in additional time after Scott Mayfield and Mathew Barzal each limped up the tunnel.
The Islanders deserve a complete lot of credit score for rallying across the flag, preventing by all of the accidents and placing collectively a January that noticed them soar from the outer fringe of the playoff race to proper within the thick of it.
However the actuality of their state of affairs hit a complete lot more durable after a 6-3 defeat to the Panthers on Sunday through which they almost rallied to one more absurd victory earlier than lastly working out of fuel, ceding a hat trick to Carter Verhaeghe.
This was about as a lot a scheduled loss as any recreation on the calendar — the second finish of a back-to-back with their fourth-string goalie, Jakub Skarek, making his NHL debut on the highway in opposition to the defending Stanley Cup champs, and with a laundry checklist of regulars out.
It’s not a lot in regards to the end result, although it should be mentioned that each defeat at this level offers the Islanders a blow within the standings.
It’s in regards to the large image through which the Islanders reside, a minimum of for the subsequent week earlier than the NHL takes two weeks off for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The membership didn’t present updates on Barzal or Mayfield on Sunday, saying they might know extra in regards to the standing of each in 24 hours. However even when each return in time for Tuesday’s dwelling match in opposition to Vegas (which might come as a fairly large shock), the Islanders wanted the layoff to start out yesterday.
Regardless of a wonderful January, the Islanders nonetheless have to make up factors to get above the playoff cutline. They can’t tread water, however they’re lacking your complete proper facet of their protection corps, their second- and third-string goalies, their most dynamic offensive participant in Barzal and a fourth defenseman for good measure in Mike Reilly.
Not all of these points could be solved with two weeks of relaxation, however there won’t be a group within the league that wants a breather greater than the Islanders, it doesn’t matter what their current outcomes have been.
After an atrocious first interval on Sunday, the Islanders admirably rallied to attain three straight targets within the second, two coming from fourth-liners Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb with a power-play aim from Jean-Gabriel Pageau in between — that one coming after coach Patrick Roy scrapped his power-play items and ran out the third line.
It handed the Islanders an unbelievable 3-2 lead, however that shortly fell aside. Earlier than the second intermission, Evan Rodrigues had transformed a backhand on the crease and Sam Reinhart an opportunity off the push to place Florida again forward 4-3.
The Islanders saved on urgent to start out the third, however the penalty kill — almost infallible in January — lastly let one up, with Verhaeghe finishing his hat trick on a blast from the left circle. An empty-netter from Matthew Tkachuk put a bow on it.
Skarek struggled on Sunday, letting in 5 targets on 32 photographs, however the Islanders left so much to be desired with their play in entrance of him. Taking part in for the third time in 4 nights after additional time on Saturday, they appeared emotionally and bodily exhausted, significantly in the beginning of the night time.
It took them 10:59 to report a shot on aim, with the Panthers grabbing a 2-0 lead within the recreation’s first 13 minutes on a pair of Verhaeghe conversions off rebounds from Reinhart and Gustav Forsling, respectively.
Within the quick, the Islanders can hold their hats on the successful streak that — a minimum of for now — bought them again into the race, and take satisfaction of their effort that made a recreation of it Sunday.
However the large image as they head again to New York seems to be so much grimmer than it ought to for a group that’s performed so nicely so lately.