Injury-depleted Islanders will need help to make playoffs
The puck is in the net on a goal by Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson against Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin at UBS Arena on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
There is a balance the Islanders must recognize between the talent drain from their injury-depleted lineup and the stoic next-man-up mentality that is a must to be a professional athlete.
They may be trusting the process and liking the way they’re playing through what is, results-wise, a disappointing 1-3-1 homestand that still has two games remaining.
But losing to the Capitals, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at UBS Arena — the score was inflated by two empty-net goals — after a 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers and a 3-1 loss to the Bruins despite distinct shot advantages in all three games speaks to a team that currently is just not good enough to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Not with top-six right wing Kyle Palmieri (torn left ACL) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) gone for the season and third-line center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) out for two to three weeks.
“Those are big pieces,” said Bo Horvat, who notched his first point in five games with a power-play goal at 13:43 of the third period to bring the Islanders within a goal. “They’re big parts of this organization. Big parts of our team.
“But yeah, it’s the next-man-up mentality. We’ve got guys in here that can fill the void and do the job, and we’ve been doing a pretty good job of doing that so far with these injuries. It’s just a matter of getting wins behind it.”
Russian rookie Max Shabanov took Palmieri’s spot on Horvat’s line with Emil Heineman and on the first power-play unit — the Islanders went 1-for-3 after snapping an 0-for-29 rut against the Flyers — and Max Tsyplakov drew into the lineup on the fourth line.
The Islanders (13-10-3) held a 31-18 shot advantage and a 62-52 edge in shot attempts against the Capitals (15-9-2), who have won four straight and are on a 7-1-1 run. Still, NaturalStatTrick.com reported the Islanders with only a 10-8 advantage in high-danger chances skating five-on-five.
“It’s just a matter of scoring goals right now for us, because we’re playing really well defensively,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We give ourselves a chance to win every night and I could not ask for any better than that at this moment. But the standard is to win. Don’t get me wrong here. And we want to be part of the playoffs.”
The Islanders can and have been possessing the puck. But they are shy of finishers.
They have only six goals in five games on this homestand after all the good feelings of a 6-1-0 road trip.
“It’s frustrating,” defenseman Adam Pelech said. “I think we’ve been playing well the past several games and, unfortunately, we’ve had a tough time finding the back of the net. We just stick with it and hopefully we score a few more going forward.”
The Capitals’ Logan Thompson was a difference-maker, starting with an acrobatic save on Anders Lee’s shot off Mathew Barzal’s feed on a two-on-one rush 42 seconds into the first period and getting a glove on Jonathan Drouin’s two-on-one chance off Barzal’s feed at 8:20 of the period.
Ilya Sorokin played another solid game but did himself in on Tom Wilson’s second goal. The goalie went behind his crease to play a dump-in and Wilson intercepted his attempted outlet pass, staring at an empty net.
“I think the team should change nothing because they played really well,” Sorokin said. “For me, I want to play more simple with the puck. Like today’s second goal, a bad decision.
“I saw a window and I tried to go high, but it’s a broken play. I think I should play simple in this moment.”
Wilson’s power-play goal at 7:37 of the first period off a deft feed from Alex Ovechkin — perhaps playing his final regular-season game at UBS Arena — opened the scoring. Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas added empty-net goals.
Roy said he loved how the players on the bench immediately responded vocally with a desire to make it up for Sorokin after his gaffe.
Ultimately, they couldn’t.
“If you know this group, you understand they will never give up,” Roy said. “This is not a group that feels sorry for themselves.”
But on this day, the talent drain beat the next-man-up mentality.
Notes & quotes: Palmieri was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Friday . . . Forward Marc Gatcomb was recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He and defenseman Adam Boqvist were the healthy scratches.
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.
