Islanders lose in Dallas, drop to fourth place in division
New York Islanders defenseman Brian Strait (37) battles Dallas Stars forwards Valeri Nichushkin (43) and Brett Ritchie (25) for the puck during the first period of an NHL Hockey game Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade) Credit: AP / Brandon Wade
DALLAS — The Islanders have picked a bad time for a bad stretch.
Their 3-0 loss to the Stars Saturday night at American Airlines Center made them 1-3-2 in their last six games and left them suddenly in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
Their 85 points trail the second-place Rangers’ 88 and the Penguins’ 86. But the Islanders have two games in hand on the Rangers and one on the Penguins, with three weeks of games to play. The Islanders currently sit in the first wild-card spot and remained five points clear of the playoff line. The Flyers have 80 points and are chasing the Red Wings (83 points) for the final playoff spot.
What made the latest loss either easier or more difficult to take, depending on how you look at it, was that more so than in many recent games the Islanders played pretty well, yet had nothing to show for their efforts.
“Right now, as a coach, you can’t beat them down,” coach Jack Capuano said. “You have to show encouragement with these guys and how hard they played and the will that they had to compete.”
Said Kyle Okposo, “We’re a good hockey team. We just have to remember that and put this little stretch behind us and keep moving forward.”
It should help that they will move forward with eight of their remaining regular-season games at home after a stretch of 12 out of 14 on the road that ended with Saturday night’s loss.
They concluded the road stretch with a whimper, scoring three goals on their three-game trip to Pittsburgh, Nashville and Dallas, during which they earned only one point in the standings.
Kari Lehtonen’s shutout for the Stars was the third of the Islanders this season — and the Stars franchise’s first over the Islanders since 1992, when it still was based in Minnesota.
“It is what it is,” John Tavares said. “We have to find a way to put some pucks in the net . . . We have to find a way to break through and execute at a higher rate.”
The game was scoreless after the first period, meaning the Islanders now have gone five games without scoring in the opening period.
At 1:56 of the second, the Islanders got their first power play in two games and their seventh in their past six games when Ales Hemsky was called for hooking Shane Prince. But they did not score.
The second period featured end-to-end action and plenty of scoring chances before the Stars finally broke through at 13:07 when Cody Eakin beat Thomas Greiss low to the far corner of the net on a shot from the right circle.
Dallas had stormed into the Islanders’ end two-on-one, with its leading scorer, Jamie Benn, coming down the middle and demanding attention. That allowed Eakin to skate down the right side and get a clear shot.
Patrick Eaves made it 2-0 at 7:41 of the third when he stole the puck from Frans Nielsen, came in on a breakaway and after initially being stopped by Greiss popped in the rebound.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I saw him coming,” Nielsen said later.
The Stars clinched it on an empty-net goal by Hemsky with 2:54 left after Capuano had pulled Greiss with a whopping 4:06 remaining.
Will it be tough to put the slump aside and focus on the Flyers Monday night? “That’s not tough,” Nielsen said. “We’re fighting for a playoff spot. It’s the best time of the year. It’s easy.”
We shall see. Right now nothing seems to be coming easily for the Islanders.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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