Islanders hoping the road will cure what ails them
Islanders head coach Lane Lambert speaks to the media after a game against the Capitals at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
EDMONTON, Alberta — Maybe the road can make it right. The Islanders certainly must hope so.
The losing streak grew to four, including three straight in regulation, with a decent effort/lousy result 4-1 defeat to the Capitals on Saturday night at UBS Arena with the crowd chanting for coach Lane Lambert’s firing. Now comes the season’s first extended road trip, starting on Monday night against the struggling Oilers at Rogers Place with further stops in Vancouver, Seattle and Calgary.
The Islanders (5-5-3) have slipped to seventh in the Metropolitan Division with an overall 1-3-2 slide, just two points out of the basement. They’ve been outscored 11-3 in the third period over their last six games and, yes, they miss top-pair defenseman Adam Pelech (lower body) desperately as he’s sat out three of the last four.
Not the greatest of bon voyages.
“It’s been a weird start to the year with the sense of we haven’t really been on the road at all,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, noting the four road games have all been single games. “I think it will be good to be out on the road. A great opportunity if we can go on the road and kind of build some momentum.”
The good news for the Islanders is, other than the Canucks, who will host former captain Bo Horvat’s return on Wednesday, the teams they’ll face on the road have their own problems.
The Oilers (3-9-1) still have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but have been plagued by poor goaltending, and they fired coach Jay Woodcroft on Sunday, replacing him with Hartford Wolf Pack coach Kris Knoblauch, McDavid's former junior coach. The Kraken (5-7-3) reached the second round of the playoffs last season but have regressed this season and have a minus-14 goal differential. The Flames (4-8-2) have already benched the struggling Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman Nikita Zadorov has requested a trade.
Meanwhile, the Canucks (10-3-1) are thriving without Horvat. He’s unsure of the reception he’ll receive after eight-plus seasons in Vancouver following his comment on April 8 when asked about the atmosphere at UBS Arena that “it’s a lot better than Vancouver, I can tell you that for free.”
Horvat repeated on Saturday that his comment was not directed at the Canucks’ fans or that city, just his lingering frustration that he and the Canucks management could not work out a new contract.
“You circle it on your calendar, to go back to the city where it all started,” Horvat said. “It’s always in the back of your mind. But you can’t look too far ahead. We got one in Edmonton, too, before that.
“The [Canucks] have a great team. They’re off to a great start. They have great young skill.”
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.
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