Islanders mirroring last season's team, and that's not good

So far, it’s the same team with the same results. And that hasn’t been a good thing for the Islanders.

Six games into the season, president and general manager Lou Lamoriello’s unshakable belief in his core group hasn’t paid dividends.

The Islanders returned home from their first road trip of the season, a two-games-in-22-hours swing through Florida, with their losing streak at three. They have three more games left in this challenging stretch against five of the NHL’s elite. Next up: The Rangers on Wednesday night in the teams’ only meeting at UBS Arena this season.

“We’re focused on doing as well as we possibly can,” Casey Cizikas said before Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Panthers in a quote that could have come from last season. “We are focused on how we have to play to be successful. Getting pucks in deep, playing fast and making it hard on the other team. Playing as a team. When you do that, you’re going to have more success than not.”

The issues on Sunday, in Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Lightning and especially in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the visiting Devils were eerily similar to last season, when the Islanders missed the playoffs by 16 points and got coach Barry Trotz fired.

The Islanders (2-4-0) looked way too slow against the Devils. They quickened the pace this past weekend but made too many mental errors against the Lightning and Panthers.

They created only one high-danger chance skating five-on-five against the Panthers, per Natural Stat Trick, and many of the players being counted on to produce offensively have yet to do so.

There has been an aggregate of zero goals from centers Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Cizikas. Kyle Palmieri has one assist through six games and Josh Bailey, who was a healthy scratch against the Lightning, has no points in five games. Anthony Beauvillier, who played five games in the top six with two goals and one assist, was a healthy scratch on Sunday.

New coach Lane Lambert has yet to find the right line combinations. Barzal still needs linemates who can properly complement his unique skating and playmaking abilities.

The Islanders insisted that last season’s disappointment was an aberration fueled by a COVID-impacted schedule and roster.

There were 21 returnees out of the 23 on the opening night roster. Only defenseman Alexander Romanov, acquired from the Canadiens for the 13th overall pick, and bottom-six forward Nikita Soshnikov, who signed as a free agent to return from the KHL, were new to the team.

“We have urgency every day,” Lambert said. “The urgency is high.”

That’s fine. But the real issue is making sure the execution level is high.

Notes & quotes: The Islanders will honor longtime hockey historian, author and former MSG Networks analyst Stan Fischler by bestowing his name on the UBS Arena press box during a pregame ceremony on Wednesday . . . The Islanders did not practice on Monday.

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.