Islanders fall to woeful Chicago Blackhawks

It’s well past the point of frustrating for the Islanders.

They need to find a way to combat the mind games caused by the ever-mounting losses and their imminent playoff elimination.

“You’ve got to play with a lot of pride and compete hard and I think we’re a better team than we’ve shown,” captain John Tavares said. “When things don’t go your way and you’re not getting the results you’re working for, it makes you play games in your head and think too much and try to do too much. You’ve got to try to stay together and work on good habits and find a way to execute at a higher rate for 60 minutes.”

The struggling Blackhawks, eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday, defeated the Islanders, 3-1, on Saturday night at Barclays Center.

Now, either one point lost by the Islanders (31-34-10) or gained by the Devils officially will mean the Islanders have missed the playoffs for a second straight season. The Islanders, in last place in the Metropolitan Division, are 1-3-0 on this five-game homestand and just 2-9-4 since Feb. 19.

“It’s been frustrating for a while,” said Tavares, who kept the Islanders from their third shutout of the season by lifting a backhander over Anton Forsberg at 17:18 of the third period, cutting the deficit to 2-1. “Losing is not a lot of fun.”

Brent Seabrook clinched the game for the Blackhawks (31-36-9) with an empty-net goal at 18:46.

Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for the Islanders while Anton Forsberg stopped 31 shots, just missing his first career shutout in his 44th NHL appearance.

“Give him credit, he played great,” Anders Lee said. “He saw all the pucks he was given. It was kind of one of those nights where the puck was just [at] our feet, bouncing around.”

Coach Doug Weight’s lineup was notable as he dropped veteran left wing Andrew Ladd to the fourth line to start the game.

The former Blackhawk, 32, is in the second season of a seven-year, $38.5 million deal but has just 10 goals and 14 assists in 66 games after notching 23 goals and eight assists in 78 games last season. A no-trade clause covers the next two seasons of his mega-deal.

Weight had tried kick-starting Ladd’s production during the recent Western Canada swing by putting him on rookie Mathew Barzal’s second line.

But, along with center Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck, Weight formulated a fourth-line that counts $12.35 million against the salary cap.

The pricey arrangement was over by the second period, as Weight flip-flopped Ladd and Ross Johnston, putting Ladd back on Brock Nelson’s third line with Tanner Frtiz.

“I really thought Cal and Z, in particular, had their best game in a while,” Weight said of Clutterbuck and Cizikas. “We’ve needed a little bit more from that third line in the last couple of games.”

Still, the Islanders trailed 2-0 early in the second period on a couple of odd bounces.

Patrick Kane’s power-play goal, a centering feed from the right circle that deflected in off defenseman Adam Pelech’s stick, made it 1-0 at 2:36 of the second period. Brandon Saad followed by poking the puck in at the right post at 4:25 after Halak lost the puck, which hit a stanchion and bounced to Saad rather than continuing into the corner.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.