These are tense times around the New York Islanders.
That was very evident during Monday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center, when Head Coach Lane Lambert stopped drills at points to get a clear message across.
“There are just little things that are happening that can’t happen,” said Lambert after practice. “It’s not one person in particular or one thing in particular. There are certain moments when jobs have to be done.”
The Islanders don’t have a lot of time to get their problems fixed…in fact, the sense of urgency continues get higher and higher as they let more badly needed points slip away. After blowing third period leads to Vancouver last Thursday and Montreal on Saturday, the Islanders have watched three out of four points get away from them as they battle for a playoff spot.
As the Islanders get ready for Tuesday night’s game with Ottawa at UBS Arena, they find themselves one point back of the Penguins for the second Eastern Conference wild card spot, and two points behind the Capitals, who hold down the top wild card position.
It’s time for the Islanders to start stringing together some wins.
“Let’s do this thing,” said Captain Anders Lee. “Let’s go. We have a great chance. We’re not waiting around for anything. We’ll take control of what we can and take ownership of this opportunity and this chance to make a push.”
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One player, in particular, that was called out during the practice was defenseman Noah Dobson. The Islanders have had some problems boxing out in front of their own net and Dobson received that message loud and clear.
“That was the main message today: just making sure we’re taking care of our details,” said Dobson. “The two d-men have to be communicating with the low forward as to who has who. I think it just comes down to being hard in that area. We have to own our own net front. We have great goaltenders so if we allow them to see the puck, they’re going to stop most of them.”
Now 56 games into the season, the Islanders are in a fight to avoid a second straight year of missing the playoffs. There has to be an increased sense of urgency, and that certainly set the tone for Monday’s practice, which was as spirited of a practice as the Islanders have had in a long time.
Given how their schedule has played out, it was only the Islanders’ fifth real practice day since December 1.
“It was a workday,” said Lee. “We had a high-tempo practice. The guys worked hard and when there were things that needed to be corrected, they were. That’s exactly what you want when you come into a day. You can come out and get better.”
“It was great,” said recently acquired center Bo Horvat. “A lot of times, you need those practices…the competitive practices where you’re battling and mimicking game situations. Today was one of those days and I thought it was really good.”
It was a tough, and at times a very emotional, practice, with the coaches delivering some tough love: the Islanders simply have to focus on their details and to start finishing hockey games.
“I didn’t think it was sloppy at all,” said Lambert, when asked about the nature of the practice. “I thought we had a really good competitive practice today. Guys are corrected, whether it would be on the ice or in the video room.”
And now the Islanders turn their attention to two huge points up for grabs against the Senators on Tuesday night. At this time of the season, they can’t continue to flush points down the toilet.
“I think I can speak for everybody in here that every game matters at this point in the season and every point matters,” said Horvat. “There are some really big games coming up that we have to be ready for and prepare for. It’s obviously a big part of the season.”
And if anything came out of Monday’s practice, it was working to find a solution to the Isles’ play in front of goalies Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov.
The message was sent loud and clear: box out or after the next 26 games, the box will close on the Islanders season.
“The guys need to do a better job in those situations,” said Lambert. “The structure is there.”
For the Islanders, the playoffs start now. They’re running out of time.
Follow Peter Schwartz on Twitter: @SchwartzSports
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