Last week, I wrote at the end of my column that we didn’t know who these New York Islanders were yet after a 3-1-0 start that included some up and down performances. I tended to lean towards being closer to the group we saw over-perform in last summer’s bubble and reach the Eastern Conference Final. But we may have to adjust our thinking yet again.
After a disastrous week that included a loss to the New Jersey Devils and two terrible losses to the Washington Capitals, both playing with their ‘B’ squads, we may now have to ask ourselves, honestly, if the team we witnessed lose to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Lightning were merely a mirage.
This is not to slight the Devils, but they are just not ready for primetime. Instead, they trotted out a goaltender making his second start in three years and not only beat the Islanders, but shut them out. The Capitals, playing without Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitri Orlov, Ilya Samsonov, Tom Wilson, and Niklas Backstrom (for half the game), defeated the Isles 3-2 on a Justin Schultz last-minute winner.
Thursday night, with Wilson and Backstrom back in the lineup, they trailed 3-0 after the first period before destroying the Islanders’ will to play, roaring all the way back for a 6-3 victory, a game that left the captain shell-shocked to say the least.
“It was a bad loss, we just couldn’t find our game after the first period. We were on the wrong side of the puck way too much there. It’s a real tough time (with the condensed schedule) to have a bad start. We have no choice, but to gather ourselves and rebound. It all starts Saturday in Philly, again,” Anders Lee said via Zoom during the post-game.
Head coach Barry Trotz inserted Oliver Wahlstrom in the lineup, finally, and kept Kieffer Bellows, scratching Michael Dal Colle and Ross Johnston. And not only did he decide to give Leo Komarov, who had a disastrous night on Tuesday, another shot, he inserted him to play with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey in place of the injured Anthony Beauvillier – which, as you might imagine, did nothing to break the latter two out of their doldrums.
And that is the issue right now: too many players stuck in the mud, still awaiting their wake-up call. You can say it's due to no pre-season, sure, and you might be right. But, at the end of the day, in a shortened 56-game season, you simply don’t have time for this lackadaisical and sloppy play, especially considering the division the Islanders find themselves in. If any team could use an ‘excuse,’ it would be the Capitals, no? However, they still remain undefeated in regulation.
Where does it start? Nelson and Bailey invisible. Beauvillier out, but also invisible prior to the injury. The follies of playing Ross Johnson for the first six games, even though there is clear redundancy with Matt Martin. The fourth line not having anything close to the impact they had in prior seasons. Jordan Eberle not often enough making an impact, even though he plays with the Islanders’ most dynamic forward.
On the blue line, it’s been Noah Dobson and a collection of ‘meh.’ None of them are playing poorly, but clearly more is needed, especially in transition. The team play through the neutral zone has been an abomination. Let’s just hope Ryan Pulock, who picked up a late knock in a collision with Tom Wilson, feels okay. We’ve witnessed less become much more. And in goal, Semyon Varlamov, after a terrific start, showed many cracks last night while Ilya Sorokin was, inexplicably, sent to the taxi squad to open up the spot for Wahlstrom.
When it all comes down to it, Trotz is working with what he’s been given by team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello. He has had to tailor this system to a team that just doesn’t score enough goals…or, heck, doesn’t generate enough offense most times. It’s playing playoff hockey for 56 games, then playing even more. It’s almost ridiculously unsustainable.
Lamoriello’s favorite quote seemingly is ‘when you have time, you use it.’ Taking all that time to figure out a messy salary cap situation, one which he is only partly responsible for, and sign Barzal, might have cost him Mike Hoffman. How’s that power play been looking, lately? He tried to move the Islanders’ lesser players to no avail, and who could blame the other teams? No disrespect, but are teams salivating to land Komarov, Thomas Hickey, or a broken down Johnny Boychuk?
“This is a punch in the mouth and an uppercut to the jaw. We gotta pick ourselves up off the floor. Everyone wants to pile on, we need to pull together. When it gets the darkest, you're sometimes closest to breaking out. This was a wasted two games here for us. We need to make good going forward, can't look back now. Let's embrace the grind, the battle, and stay in the fight,” Trotz said after Thursday’s game.
It’s all you can do at this point: stay in the fight, keep battling, and hope you don’t become what you were over the last 33 games of last season (12-14-7) prior to the bubble. If that’s the case…well, I don’t really want to go down that road just yet.
Follow Andy Graziano on Twitter: @AndyGraz_WFAN
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