Shark Bait and Switch
Isles show you why they can't be trusted in shocking 5-4 OT loss to San Jose
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Equally remarkable as it is unacceptable.
That’s what Thomas Hickey said during the MSG Networks postgame after the worst loss of the season. What felt like a fun, easy-going, take-care-of-business type of win turned into a disaster as the Isles allowed three goals in the final 8:05 of regulation against the San Jose Sharks, the league’s worst team, in another disheartening and demoralizing loss.
“We had the game under control with eight and a half minutes left. To lose that hockey game is a sin.” - Lane Lambert
This wasn’t like the other blown leads. No, this didn’t happen in a game where the Islanders were outshot and out-chanced. As expected against San Jose, they dominated the game flow. This was a game they deserved to win, and then, in a matter of minutes, it became a game they deserved to lose.
Any goodwill Lane Lambert earned back with the team’s back-to-back wins over Carolina, and Florida evaporated and calls for him to be fired rushed back from a frustrated fanbase exiting UBS Arena as if they never stopped.
These are stats that get a coach replaced:
Allowed three goals in the third period six times (same total as last season)
Blown eight multi-goal leads this season and are 3-1-4 in those games.
Allowed 11 third-period game-tying goals
Outscored 24-9 over last 14 third periods
Outscored 39-18 in the third period and overtime this season
Have led in 20 of 24 games; have won only 10
Lambert continued to talk about how players have to make the right decisions and make plays with the puck on their stick when defending the lead. A lot, if not most of this, is on the players, but GM Lou Lamoriello can’t fire all the players.
Something is badly broken. You can call it mental, you can call it bad luck, or whatever else, but nothing is changing, and neither the coach nor the players have any answers that we haven’t heard already.
If it were as simple as calling losses like this unacceptable, they would have stopped weeks ago because there have been far too many of them.
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