Islanders need to reconnect in crucial game vs. Red Wings
Mathew Barzal #13, Jean-Gabriel Pageau #44 and Anders Lee #27 of the Islanders look on after the Rangers scored a third period goal at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, March, 17, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
DETROIT — Somewhere between their last visit to the Motor City and now, the Islanders’ ability to play winning hockey has ruptured.
They know what they need to do better. They just keep failing to do so.
The Islanders get another chance to snap a losing streak that has stretched to five games in Thursday night’s critical match against the Red Wings — also in a group of six teams vying for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot — at Little Caesars Arena.
“When we were on a roll I think you could see in our game how connected we were, how guys were supportive of one another in all three zones,” Anders Lee said. “We had close support. That plays a big part into how we exit our zone, how we control the neutral zone and how we have time in the offensive zone. In the last five games, it hasn’t been as consistent as it needs to be. Or we’re having two of the three. That’s what’s hurting us now for sure.”
The Islanders (29-24-15), who have been outscored a woeful 20-6 in the losing streak, have 14 games left to figure this out.
Their first visit to Detroit on Feb. 29 produced an impressive 5-3 win, their second straight victory in what became a season-high six-game winning streak. It also snapped the Red Wings’ six-game winning streak.
Now, the Islanders are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Coach Patrick Roy projected some optimism by terming the Islanders’ final 30 minutes solid as they scored a third-period goal and only allowed an empty-netter. Of course, there was some defensive dysfunction in the Hurricanes’ three-goal first period.
It wasn’t quite as bad as Sunday’s disconnected and defensively disorganized 5-2 loss to the first-place Rangers.
“We’ve got to come with some positive feelings,” Lee said. “It’s a tough stretch for us right now. We’re feeling it. It’s not going our way. To end it, we’ve got to find a way to have each other’s backs. To play together.”
The Islanders are hoping last season’s experience, when they sneaked into the playoffs with a win in their regular-season finale, is a blueprint for a late turnaround this season.
“In the moment, right now, it is a little deep for sure,” said Matt Martin, who grew up across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. “But we were in a pretty big, deep hole last year as well. We have 14 games left and we need as many as we can get. So I think it’s just about every single one of us looking inside and seeing what we can do more of and impacting the games in different ways. It’s a disappointing run we’ve been on but we can’t be pointing fingers at anyone but yourself right now.”
But it’s not about doing more. It’s about the individual players coming back together as a collective unit.
United, they can stand. Divided, they’re falling.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
