Islanders’ inconsistencies too much to overcome in loss to Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. — The Islanders keep on running into different versions of the same fundamental problem, best illustrated by the fact that they are now guaranteed to lose more games than they win this season.

There is no head coach, line combination or strategy that can make up for a group of players that cannot tap into its best with anything resembling regularity.

That does not mean the Islanders can’t make the playoffs, since their main competitors in the masochistic wild-card race all appear to have the same issue.

But Loss No. 42 on Saturday, 4-1 to the Lightning in a game that saw the visitors put forth an inconsistent-at-best effort, felt like something of a clarifying moment.

Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) looks on against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Sporting forward lines that included Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson all anchoring their own trios in the name of balance, the Islanders did find that, after a fashion, at the game’s start. All four lines struggled equally.

The Lightning were faster. The Lightning were crisper.

The Lightning won more of their battles, managed the puck better and did pretty much everything else better, too.

In the first period alone, Tampa Bay more than tripled the Islanders’ shot count.

Thanks mostly to the efforts of Semyon Varlamov — who was up to the task in what turned into an out-and-out duel with Andrei Vasilevskiy for most of the second period — the Islanders got to the third facing just a 2-1 deficit.

There was a semblance of offensive momentum as well after coach Patrick Roy had abandoned his original lines, returning Pierre Engvall to play with Nelson and Kyle Palmieri while Casey Cizikas played on Barzal’s left wing alongside Hudson Fasching and Jean-Gabriel Pageau lined up between Anders Lee and Horvat.

Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) celebrates after he scored a goal against the New York Islanders during the first period on Saturday. Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

But the Islanders’ own inconsistencies, combined with the difficulty of getting pucks by Vasilevskiy, was too much to overcome.

Just 21 seconds into the third period, the Lightning extended their lead, with Steven Stamkos deflecting in Emil Lilleberg’s shot from the left point — a goal confirmed following a review for high-sticking — to take the air right out of the Islanders’ balloon.

Instead of a push, the next 19:41 featured the same scattered offense that has become the norm lately, depending more on rush chances than anything sustained.

All that produced was an early pull of Varlamov, which led straight to Anthony Cirelli’s empty-netter.

Palmieri had put the Islanders ahead on their first shot of the game, throwing a puck at the net that deflected off Matt Dumba and in.

But constant pressure by the Lightning quickly laid waste to the idea that the lead would last, as Darren Raddysh and Cirelli scored within 35 seconds of each other — the former on the power play — to hand Tampa a deserved lead at the 15:00 mark.

They never gave it up.

slanders left wing Anders Lee (27) defends the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

As has been the reality since mid-January or so, the Islanders inclusion in the playoff race is due more to factors out of their control than anything relating to their own play.

None of the Flyers, Capitals or Red Wings — their main competitors — have more wins than losses either.

But the Islanders, whose 31 wins were five fewer than all three of those teams, have taken advantage of the loser point even in comparison to that motley crew.

A six-game win streak earlier this month aside, the Islanders have shown next to nothing since Christmas that indicates they would be a contender if not for the loser point and if not for the Eastern Conference playoff race being a sprint to the bottom.

The talent is there, and it’s shown in fits and starts. But even in a playoff race of this caliber, getting in will require better than the Islanders have shown.

Saturday was just the latest evidence.