SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Islanders are limping into the 4 Nations break in additional methods than one.
The excessive of a seven-game successful streak that vaulted them into playoff competition is over.
Now it’s about getting over the cutline and proving that an ideal two weeks wasn’t merely a mirage.
Whereas the Islanders weren’t totally outplayed in any of the three losses they suffered within the 4 video games heading into the break, it is a outcomes enterprise.
And blowing a two-goal second interval result in lose 6-3 to the Wild on Saturday doesn’t encourage any notions that the Islanders are a legit contender masquerading as a playoff hopeful.
It regarded just like the Islanders had been on their option to gritting out a win on the second finish of a back-to-back at the beginning went to items late within the second.
Frederik Gaudreau lower a 3-1 result in 3-2 with an influence play objective from the highest of the zone after the puck glanced off Tony DeAngelo and previous Ilya Sorokin on the 13:21 mark of the interval.
Then Matt Boldy and Yakov Trenin scored near-identical targets separated by simply 51 seconds, each of them deflecting level pictures from Jonas Brodin and Jake Middleton, respectively.
Immediately, the Islanders had been trailing 4-3 in a sport that they had largely managed, and reeling going into the second intermission.
And on an evening the place the Islanders didn’t have a full tank at first of the sport, having performed 24 hours prior, there was no comeback in retailer.
Drained legs checked out fault on the failed breakout that led to Boldy’s second objective of the night time 5:53 into the third, when the Minnesota winger threw the puck on the crease just for DeAngelo to whack it into his personal web.
There was no push forthcoming, and Marcus Foligno’s empty-netter sealed up a end result that regarded quite a bit much less shut than the sport felt for a lot of the night time.
On an evening the place they might have moved inside two factors of a playoff spot, the Isles as a substitute dropped down the standings behind the Rangers, and remained 4 factors again of the cutline.
Simply as regarding, the drop in outcomes has coincided instantly with Mat Barzal and Scott Mayfield’s accidents. It doesn’t appear to be the Islanders are getting Barzal again anytime quickly after the group confirmed he just lately underwent surgical procedure for a presumed left kneecap damage.
As for Mayfield, who has been known as day-to-day, the Islanders might badly use him again after they return from the break.
With Patrick Roy’s belief in Dennis Cholowski hovering round zero, the membership basically performed the final week with 5 defensemen and the fatigue broke via on Saturday.
The Islanders might nonetheless go any which method on the March 7 commerce deadline, and common supervisor Lou Lamoriello will doubtless stick with certainly one of his favourite clichés: When you’ve got time, use it.
However the Isles’ outlook is way harder going into the two-week layoff than it was simply seven days prior.
Getting at the least two factors out of an admittedly robust back-to-back in Winnipeg and Minnesota was a naked minimal to really feel respectable about the way in which issues had been going, and it did look as if the Islanders would pull that off after a tricky loss to the Jets on Saturday.
The Islanders let up the opening objective simply 3:19 into the match when Marco Rossi ripped one in from the slot, however it took them a mere 13 seconds to tie it at one on a Kyle Palmieri objective on the different finish of the ice.
Consecutive targets from Minnesota natives Brock Nelson and Anders Lee prolonged the result in 3-1 within the second, and although it was removed from an ideal efficiency, the Islanders have closed out video games nicely these days.
Simply not this one.