Islanders put themselves in bigger hole

PHILADELPHIA -- The somber mood in the visitors' dressing room in Washington on Tuesday night wasn't exactly a new emotion for the Islanders, who have fumbled away points often this season.

The new wrinkle was the air of finality: The Islanders' blew a two-goal lead in the final 3:29 and lost to the Capitals when Alex Ovechkin scored 1:35 into overtime. What should have been a regulation victory for the Isles turned into a three-point game -- two for the Caps, who lead the 13th-place Islanders by eight points for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

With only 19 games to go, the Islanders, with the trade deadline behind them and realizing that this is the group they have going forward, seem to know they lost more than a late lead on Tuesday.

"We've left a lot of points on the board and we don't have a lot of time left," said Travis Hamonic, one of several Islanders who sat, stunned, in that visitors' room.

The Islanders face the Flyers here Thursday night, then have a weekend afternoon double bill of the Bruins in Boston and then home for the Devils. That's three teams all safely on the right side of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, and the Islanders can't afford to come away pointless in any of them.

Their greatest flaw, timely scoring, reared its head again on Tuesday. Michael Grabner had a clear path to an empty net with a minute to play, needing only to get the puck from his skates to his stick; he even had John Tavares with him and only one Caps defenseman back. But Grabner couldn't handle Kyle Okposo's off-target pass, and 35 seconds later, the tying goal was behind Evgeni Nabokov.

Grabner and Okposo skated with rookie Casey Cizikas on Tuesday, and Grabner still flashed his great speed to give himself two breakaways and a two-on-one. As has happened so often this season, he was stopped every time; his 15 goals are tied for third on the Islanders, but he's had roughly 25 breakaways and converted just one of them all year.

"I can't get frustrated, can't get away from my game," Grabner said. "This is what got me here, got me success last season. I'm getting the chances, I just have to find a way to get one in there."

The Islanders were off Wednesday, preparing for three difficult games in four nights. They had a big hill to climb even before Tuesday night; after the stunning late collapse, the looks on the players' faces showed that the hill has turned into a mountain.