Islanders need to regroup after embarrassing loss to Devils

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s still way too early in the season to say the Islanders have come to a critical juncture. But it’s not necessarily hyperbole to suggest that it’s crucial to find consistency and speed in their performances or risk quickly lagging in the standings.

That’s what happened last season when the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

So before departing for the season’s first road trip — a quick Florida swing starting with Saturday night’s game against the Lightning at Amalie Arena — new coach Lane Lambert put his team through an intense 30-minute practice on Friday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow.

The high-paced drills emphasized rushing the puck up ice, attacking the net and being physical along the walls, all things the Islanders were deficient at in Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to the dominant Devils at UBS Arena.

“I think everybody’s attention was grabbed by the way we played,” Lambert said. “I’m not going to make any excuses. It’s unacceptable. We just weren’t ready to go as good as we should have been. It won’t happen again.”

“We met this morning and just talked about the importance of every game,” Matt Martin said. “It doesn’t matter that it was Game 4, they all count the same. Bottom line is we didn’t come to work [Thursday]. We didn’t compete hard enough and didn’t play to our game well enough. We paid for it. We reset today. I thought we had a good practice.”

The Islanders (2-2-0) also face a rematch with the Panthers on Sunday afternoon after dropping their season opener to them, 3-1, on Oct. 13 at UBS Arena. The Islanders’ next four games are against teams that made the playoffs last season.

“These are two big games coming up,” Mathew Barzal said. “It’s maybe crazy to say it, but we’ve got to start playing desperate hockey almost.”

The Islanders’ loss to the Panthers and, certainly and even more stunningly, the glaringly poor outing against the Devils, came after they couldn’t match the opponent’s speed.

“We’re a quick team,” Barzal said. “We have guys that can skate. They just transitioned quickly on us and we gave them a lot of pucks that they could transition with. I don’t think speed is an issue on this team.”

So this step up in competition — the Devils may be fast, but they’re not yet considered a strong playoff contender — could very well be an indication of whether the Islanders can keep up, literally, in the playoff race.

Even this early in the season.

Notes & quotes: Lambert rotated his line combinations and defense pairs during practice. One intriguing possibility: He placed Barzal and Brock Nelson, his two top-six centers, together for a rush. “I don’t think anything is completely out of the question, ever,” Lambert said . . . Ilya Sorokin is expected to start against the Lightning after making 37 saves against the Devils. Semyon Varlamov then likely would start against the Panthers.

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.