Islanders struggling to put complete game together

TORONTO — The Islanders can play well at times in games, though lately it’s been for shorter and shorter stretches. The rinse-and-repeat scenario has been this: The Islanders make a push but either can’t extend their lead or can’t move ahead once they get to even. Then a mistake winds up costing them.

Every season, teams go through similar ruts. The question becomes this: How fragile a group are they?

“I don’t know,” All-Star Brock Nelson said. “I think we still have a competent group. You never know how the game is going to play out. But I still think we all believe in here and know that we can get the job done.”

Just not lately.

The Islanders (23-20-5) will face the Toronto Maple Leafs (28-11-8), who are 17-3-4 at home, on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena to begin a two-game road trip. They also will face the Ottawa Senators, who lurk eight points behind them in the standings, on Wednesday night.

The Islanders have lost four straight and extended their skid to 1-5-3 with Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes at UBS Arena. They gave up two quick goals to start the first period, fought back to a tie by the first intermission, then surrendered the final three goals.

“We showed good response, given the nature of the start,” Nelson said. “You’d like to get that next one. Get the lead, play like we’re capable of when we get that close in a game.”

“Every mistake gets magnified or winds up in the back of our net right now,” Zach Parise said. “And on the flip side, we’re just not finding the back of the net enough offensively. It’s not a great combination.”

The Islanders have scored 15 goals in their last nine games. They’ve won consecutive games (three) only once since Nov. 26. Their only wins in January have come against the last-place Canadiens and the Canucks, who fired coach Bruce Boudreau on Sunday.

They’ve fallen to 10th in the Eastern Conference and soon could slip behind the Sabres or even the Flyers or Red Wings. The Islanders are three points out of the final playoff position.

“We’ve got to find a way to win a game,” Parise said. “It doesn’t matter how ugly it is. We’ve got to win one and get that good feeling back in here.”

Fragile teams start pointing the finger elsewhere. That’s something the Islanders haven’t done.

“We’ve got to stick together and our guys do have to continue to believe in one another,” Anders Lee said. “Continue to work. Show up every day. All we have to do is move forward and climb out of this hole.

“It’s been a tough stretch here. The moods are down after the game. This stinks. So we’ve got to just find a way to find some life, find some energy and continue to build our game and find a way. That’s all you can do.”

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.