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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Inexcusable? Yes. Predictable? Also, yes.
We’ve grown accustomed to the Islanders blowing third-period leads and settling for a point after an overtime or shootout loss.
This time, it didn’t even get to that.
You were sadly and painfully mistaken if you thought this trend (we can call it that, can’t we?) was behind the Islanders after winning three straight.
According to statistician Eric Hornick, since Jan 2020, the Isles had been 54-1-1 when taking a multi-goal lead to the third period before last night.
It’s rare, but things have been building toward this for weeks.
This game followed the same sorry third-period playbook.
The Isles were in control and on the power play when Mathew Barzal took a bad penalty (the ninth one this season to negate the man advantage this year). Simon Holmstrom took another unforced two-minute minor soon after that, and the game was predictably tied seconds later.
Lane Lambert has seen this movie before. We all have.
“Obviously it’s extremely concerning,” Lambert said. “We had the game under control. We had a power play. And we take a penalty.”
After a bloodied, tongue-hanging, Anders Lee skated off after a fight with Brendan Smith, you thought the Isles would at least get to the horn tied with a chance to steal back the point they gave away. Not this time.
One final defensive breakdown awaited as Curtis Lazar scored with 23 seconds left, handing the Isles their worst and most painful defeat of the season. It was the seventh time in only 21 games that the Islanders lost a two-goal lead. They were able to salvage at least a point in the previous six.
“This one stings. This one stings bad.” - Lane Lambert
After the game, we heard the same empty and hollow platitudes about cleaning things up and stopping taking bad penalties. It meant little hearing those things weeks ago and even less now.
If Lambert knew how to fix the Islanders’ inability to close out games, it would’ve happened already. If nothing changes, nothing changes, and GM Lou Lamoriello seems unwilling to make the significant change that can turn this trend around.
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