As per usual, the loudest boos were reserved for John Tavares when the Maple Leafs visited UBS Arena.
Public Enemy No. 2 on Thursday night for the Islanders, though, was Max Domi.
And the Islanders, who were steaming mad at Domi for an elbow to the head of Isaiah George that knocked the rookie out of the game during the second period, let the bad guy win on Thursday night, failing to come back on the Maple Leafs in a 2-1 defeat.
The loss drops the Islanders to four games under NHL .500 for the first time since Dec. 19, 2021.
As for this late in the season, the last time they were this far below NHL .500 after the calendar flipped to January was March 31, 2018 — when Doug Weight was the head coach, Garth Snow was the general manager and Tavares was the captain.
That this loss wasn’t so bad — the Islanders competed hard against the Maple Leafs, kept it close and maybe could have won if a bounce or two had gone the other way — is almost beside the point.
The Islanders may not be falling apart in spectacular fashion, a la the Rangers, but make no mistake, their season is headed in the same direction after Bobby McMann netted a third-period winner on the power play for Toronto.
“I think right now I’d take a horrible game out of our team to win a hockey game,” a despondent Mathew Barzal said. “That’s really the only thing that matters right now is to win a hockey game. That’s really the only thing that matters right now is wins and losses.”
The Islanders had a series of chances to break a one-all tie in their favor, including on a power play after McMann was sent off for tripping at 10:18 of the third and with a Brock Nelson look after Joseph Woll misplayed the puck.
And, on what may have been the toughest miss of the night, Adam Pelech followed up a clutch Ilya Sorokin save on Matthew Knies by hitting the crossbar on the other end, mere seconds before taking an offensive-zone penalty for tripping Philippe Myers behind Toronto’s net.
The Islanders’ penalty kill — dead last in the league — then struck as McMann ripped home Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s feed that bounced off the end boards and right to him, catching Sorokin out of position for a decisive 2-1 lead.
It looked like the Islanders had tied the game at six-on-five when Anders Lee poked one in from underneath Woll with 23 seconds to go, but it was ruled out upon review — the play having been whistled dead for lack of continuous motion.
“I just thought it was a quick whistle,” coach Patrick Roy said, though there was no outright disagreement with the ruling. “That’s all.”
Another kick to the teeth for the Islanders — though at least this one wasn’t an elbow.
“I have nothing to support what I’m gonna say, but we’re playing good hockey,” Roy said. “We limited the chances, we had some chances. I think we just need to get better shots on net. … I have no complaints other than not scoring goals.”
Seeing the Maple Leafs for the third time in less than two weeks and the second time in two days, there was a fair bit of animosity built up here — which spilled over completely on Domi’s elbow to George’s head in the lead-up to McMann’s opening goal in the second.
Unlike with Cizikas, there was no penalty called on Domi — and as George skated to the bench slowly before going straight to the dressing room, McMann walked into what was an open spot on the ice to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead at the 10:43 mark of the second.
“On that hit, to me, it was clearly a headshot,” Roy said, later adding that George was in concussion protocol after missing the rest of the game. “So obviously, we didn’t see the play the same way. But what can I do? They’re the ones that make the calls on the ice.”
The Islanders eventually tied the game, with Barzal finding Scott Mayfield at the 18:15 mark of the second after a few minutes of sustained pressure, sending it to the final period at 1-1.
They had the momentum.
They were playing well.
They could not come up with two points.
That kind of night.
That kind of season.