RALEIGH, N.C. — The Islanders’ perception that they will flip the season round is operating into the exhausting actuality of what it seems to be like after they get out onto the ice.
The newest ignominy, Tuesday’s 4-0 defeat to the Hurricanes on the Lenovo Heart, was solely the most recent in what’s now 33 video games’ price of proof that the Islanders — who have been final above NHL .500 on Oct. 25 — are a crew that may want every part it has simply to succeed in mediocrity.
Towards a crew that eradicated them from the playoffs the final time they performed on this constructing in April, this efficiency from the Islanders dropped at thoughts the 6-3 defeat, which ended their 2023-24 season.
Similar to that evening, the Islanders fell behind at the beginning earlier than seeing each likelihood at producing momentum get crushed earlier than it acquired off the bottom.
In contrast to that evening, this by no means even regarded prefer it may change into shut.
The Hurricanes have been sooner, stronger on the puck, tougher on the entrance of the online and — to nobody’s shock — mild years higher on each particular groups models than the Islanders.
Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech returned to the lineup simply two days prior, after six weeks of ready, and already that has been utterly overshadowed as a result of the Islanders’ myriad issues look the very same as they did with them out.
As an alternative of utilizing the damage returns to construct momentum for a run, the Islanders will want wins in each of their remaining video games earlier than Christmas simply to get again to NHL .500.
Mere days after Patrick Roy publicly admonished the Islanders over their failure to guard Ilya Sorokin’s crease, the Islanders performed their softest recreation of the season at their very own internet, giving up each rebound, shedding each battle and getting boxed out at almost each out there likelihood.
In addition they in some way managed to leak odd-man rushes regardless of not often biking the puck or producing stress of their very own, with Sebastian Aho sealing a blowout by making it 4-0 off a two-on-one with Eric Robinson with 15 seconds left within the second interval.
The Islanders had been enjoying higher hockey than in a disastrous first, however a breakdown in entrance allowed Tyson Jost to get onto Shayne Gostisbehere’s rebound on the 11:13 mark for a 3-0 lead.
At 4-0 going into the third, Roy gave Sorokin a mercy pull for the second time prior to now seven video games, the goalie having stopped 19 of 23 pictures earlier than Marcus Hogberg relieved him.
Within the different internet, Pyotr Kochetkov acquired his first shutout since March 30, holding the Islanders scoreless for the primary time since Oct. 30.
By any measure, this was a humiliation of a efficiency from the bounce.
Andrei Svechnikov put Carolina on the board simply 5:47 into the match, driving to the online on the facility play and beating Sorokin by means of the legs.
Jordan Martinook made it 2-0 mere minutes later, attending to the crease earlier than Noah Dobson to wash up Jordan Staal’s rebound.
Sluggish begins now seem like simply as huge a fear for the Islanders as third-period collapses.
This was the eighth straight recreation by which they allowed the opening objective and, extra worrying than that, there was no semblance of physicality or defensive zone construction within the opening 20 minutes.
The standings have been extremely forgiving to the Islanders, who — in the event you remove the extra time level from the equation — have gained 12 video games and misplaced 21, an abysmal quantity that also in some way has them within the playoff hunt.
Even with that caveat, although, it’s unattainable to take a look at this crew proper now and see the playoffs in its future.
For that, one thing has to alter.
