So maybe one win was not an indicator of the Islanders having solved many problems, after all.
Right when you thought the Islanders had escaped their third-period “Groundhog Day” doom loop, “I Got You Babe” played over the clock radio on Monday night and the Islanders were right back where they started.
If anyone has a sense of humor about that, they are not residing in Elmont.
The Islanders were on the wrong end of a third-period comeback for the fourth time in the past five games, allowing the Red Wings to come back and beat them 4-2 on Monday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders whiffed on a chance to go over NHL-.500 for the first time in a month and on the chance to win back-to-back games for the second time this season.
And after feeling good about the way they held a lead two nights prior against the Blues, the chance to build some confidence late in games disappeared like magician David Blaine was behind the bench.
“If it was 6-1, I could come here and complain and bitch and this and that,” said coach Patrick Roy, who repeatedly emphasized his belief that the Islanders are doing the right things “But we lost 3-2. And you’re probably gonna say to me, ‘Another blown lead,’ which, I understand that. But at the same time, we’re playing good hockey.”
Yes indeed, the Islanders are right back to wondering how they can play so many 45-minute games and so few 60-minute games.
They built a 2-1 lead in this one after Kyle Palmieri put them ahead in the second period and had a chance to extend it, after effectively killing out the first 8:33 of the third, when Dylan Larkin tripped Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
Not only did they fail miserably to convert the ensuing man advantage — their third power play of the evening without payoff — but just over a minute after it ended, Larkin tied the game with a sweeping finish around Semyon Varlamov.
Just 2:23 later, after Grant Hutton hit iron on a chance that would have re-taken the lead for the Islanders, Detroit held a 3-2 lead courtesy of Lucas Raymond — who had scored the winner against the Islanders late in regulation Thursday — when the young Swede tipped in Simon Edvinsson’s shot from the left point.
Boos abounded.
The Islanders still had 6:07 left to try and mount a comeback.
But the best fight they showed was from Anders Lee, who dropped gloves with Ben Chiarot.
Alex Lyon, now 3-0 against the Islanders this year, stood tall against a late push from the Islanders at six-on-five before Edvinsson put the puck into an empty net.
Another good 45 minutes gone to waste.
“We need to continue doing exactly what we’re doing,” Roy said. “Changing won’t help us. So let’s keep doing what we’re doing well. I really believe that those chances will go in. Sometimes in life, you have to be resilient. If I hadn’t been resilient, I wouldn’t be in front of you today.
“… Guys know they lost some coverage in the third period, that made a difference in those two goals. Unfortunately for us, when we’re making mistakes, the goddamn thing finishes in the back of our net. So we gotta find a way to maybe be more solid in some situations.”
That was, in essence, a more emphatic version of the rhetoric coming out of the dressing room.
“We didn’t change anything. I don’t think we let our foot off the gas,” Brock Nelson said. “It’s just a matter of a couple plays where you don’t execute and just need a timely look or different things. I don’t know, it’s frustrating.”
The Islanders had, pretty much, been in the same situation against the same opponent a mere four nights prior in Detroit, playing the Red Wings to a frustratingly low-event game while holding a slight-but-noticeable edge through the first 40 minutes.
That game was 1-0. This one was 2-1, but the Islanders’ penalty kill was superb against a high-end Detroit power play in both, and like Thursday, they entered the third period Monday knowing they would need to build on a lead — or else.
And just like Thursday, the Islanders picked the worst of those options.
“Sometimes in life, especially when I was playing, I said some nights it’s better to be lucky and good,” Roy said. “And hopefully at some point, we’re gonna be lucky and good at the same time.”