Frustrated Islanders are struggling to score as the losses mount
Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt shoots while defended by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield during the first period of an NHL game on Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y. Credit: AP/Joshua Bessex
There’s frustration, for sure, no matter how much Lane Lambert says there can’t be.
“Frustration is a wasted emotion,” the Islanders’ coach said after his team’s latest loss. “We are all grown men. We’re professionals and we have to move on. We’re in the business of being ready for the next game.”
Nothing gets easier for the skidding Islanders, who will face the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes on Saturday night at UBS Arena. They lost to the Sabres, 3-2, in overtime on Thursday night in Buffalo and are in a 1-4-3 slide in which they’ve scored a paltry 13 goals.
The potent Sabres moved within four points of the Islanders (23-19-5) for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers are two points behind.
“It’s frustrating, absolutely,” Matt Martin said after Thursday’s defeat, which spoiled another stellar outing by newly named All-Star goalie Ilya Sorokin. “But we’ve just got to keep going. We’ve been grinding and staying afloat but not getting the job done, either. We need to find a way to win hockey games. Our focus has to move to Saturday and find a way to win that one.”
The Islanders are in desperate need of a winning streak. Sweeping a three-game homestand from Dec. 23-29 represents their only consecutive victories since they won four in a row from Nov. 21-26.
They are 8-10-4 since then. Nearly two months of sub-.500 hockey is an alarming trend for an organization that bet its entire season on the belief that last season’s playoff miss was all about COVID-19 and scheduling issues and not the sign of a team in need of vast roster improvements.
Now Lambert, elevated to replace his former boss, Barry Trotz, might have to be worried that the persistent underperforming could lead a frustrated president/general manager Lou Lamoriello to consider changes. Lamoriello, of course, is no stranger to in-season coaching moves when he perceives his team is not playing to full capacity.
Lamoriello, in his fifth season running the organization and believed to be in the final season of his contract, might need to be concerned with whether ownership is getting frustrated.
Of course, such speculation is just outside noise to the Islanders. Their only focus is on figuring out a way to tighten up defensively against the slick-skating Hurricanes and generate more offense.
The Islanders’ power-play slump grew to 3-for-50 (6.0%) since Dec. 10. But in going 0-for-1 against the Sabres, they generated a promising five shots on their man advantage, plus defenseman Ryan Pulock had an open look blocked.
“Listen, we’re definitely trying to put the puck in the net. No one wants that more than we do,” Martin said. “It seems to be going that way for us lately. We definitely had our opportunities to put [Thursday’s] game away or win the game.”
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.
