Islanders outplayed by Wild in second consecutive defeat
Minnesota Wild center Connor Dewar (26) is surrounded by teammates after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. Credit: AP/Stacy Bengs
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The strong response the Islanders wanted after a heartbreaking loss was not forthcoming.
“We just didn’t play well,” Cal Clutterbuck said. “We were awful.”
They played long stretches of uninspired hockey against the previously struggling Wild in a 5-0 loss on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center, including a second period in which they were outshot 20-3. This after the Islanders put the Wild on the power play three times in the first period.
It came down to effort. And that’s a problem.
The Islanders will face the Central Division-leading Jets on Tuesday night after opening their road trip with consecutive losses.
The Islanders were coming off a 3-1 loss to the Predators in which they gave up the tiebreaking goal with 7.9 seconds left on a shot that broke Scott Mayfield’s stick and blooped over Ilya Sorokin.
“I didn’t like our effort at all,” coach Lane Lambert said. “I didn’t think we were 100% committed to playing the game the right way right from the start. Certainly, it’s unacceptable. We got outworked and we got outcompeted.”
The dominant Wild (18-20-5), who entered the game in a 1-7-1 slide, kept the Islanders (19-14-10) from sustaining any attack through the first two periods, and their mild third-period push was far too little, too late.
An overworked Sorokin, making his career-high 11th straight appearance, stopped 29 of 32 shots before AHL call-up Ken Appleby (six saves) relieved him to begin the third period. It was Appleby’s fourth NHL appearance.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves as he moved past Patrick Roy and took sole possession of the second-most wins in NHL history with 552. It was his first shutout of the season, the 74th of his career and his sixth against the Islanders.
Each team had five power plays. The Wild scored on two of theirs and the Islanders gave up a shorthanded goal.
“We didn’t really get to a grind game or generate much possession,” Brock Nelson said after the Islanders were shut out for the third time this season.
“We need our best players to be our best players,” Bo Horvat said. “Tonight that just wasn’t the case. They were ready to go and we weren’t, and that’s on the guys in this room. I’ve got to be a lot better and figure out a way to get the team going. That was unacceptable tonight and embarrassing.”
Lambert reworked his lines again just two games after revamping them. He reunited Horvat with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee, Nelson with Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall and Jean-Gabriel Pageau with Simon Holmstrom and Julien Gauthier, and put Hudson Fasching between Clutterbuck and Matt Martin.
“Frustrating,” Lee said. “We didn’t play well. We didn’t win enough battles. We didn’t do anything very well at all tonight. I think our effort needs to be elevated and we need to have a better showing. We need to get [ticked] off.”
Lee’s slashing penalty on Fleury at 1:05 of the first period led to Mats Zuccarello — the former Ranger playing in his 800th NHL game — connecting from the left circle on the power play at 2:11 to open the scoring.
Connor Dewar turned defenseman Sebastian Aho’s turnover into a 2-0 lead at 2:18 of the second period. Joel Eriksson Ek scored on the power play at 13:38 after Horvat was called for delay of game — giving the Wild a 15-1 shot advantage in the period — and then shorthanded at 16:09 of the third period. Marcus Foligno capped the scoring at 19:03.
“You can’t be in the box as much as we were tonight,” Lee said. “I had a couple of calls. Tough way to start the hockey game. After that, there was a lot of good hockey left to be played, and we didn’t do that.”
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.
