The Islanders, despite their current point streak and improved vibes, are still a long way from where they want to be. Case in point, their 2-0 loss to the Capitals at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Islanders beat Washington last postseason. But though both teams face the same issues of old age on the roster, the Capitals look as if they will be back in the playoffs, while the Islanders looked Saturday like a team that still has just about everything to figure out.
They struggled to get through the neutral zone for long stretches, and thus failed to get anything set up on offense. They turned the puck over. Their defense broke down. (At one point, they lost Tom Wilson in the middle of the ice early in the first period as three players tried to get the puck off Aliaksei Protas, who fed Wilson in the slot for the Capitals’ first goal.) And they leaned too hard on goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
After an encouraging win over the Devils on Thursday, this was a bucket of cold water over the head. The Islanders’ schedule is still soft, at least for the next week, and they are not out of it yet, despite an 11-13-6 record. But they can’t make playing like they did Saturday a habit.
Vitek Vanecek and the Capitals shutout the Islanders on Saturday.Robert SaboThe Islanders got better as the game went on — the second period featured a clean penalty kill and they managed to generate chances on their second chance at a power play — but at five-on-five, it was largely more of the same. Lars Eller missed an open net on a redirect for what would have been the Capitals’ second goal. Otherwise, the Islanders continued to fall back on Varlamov, who finished with 34 saves.
Varlamov’s play allowed the Islanders to go into the third period with a puncher’s chance, down only a goal and thus needing only a bounce to go their way to get something from the game. Finally, they managed to cycle the puck around, generate some chances and create some circumstances from which that bounce might happen. But the bounces weren’t going the Islanders’ way.
A shot at momentum came when Oliver Wahlstrom drew a penalty midway through the final period. But the power play looked tentative and failed to provide a serious threat. At six-on-five later in the game (before Alex Ovechkin’s empty-net goal with 10.2 seconds left), the Islanders at least tested Vitek Vanecek, but couldn’t get anything by him.
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov and the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin meet during the second period.Robert SaboWhat to take from the loss? That depends on the coming days. The Islanders will at least have a chance to get the taste out of their mouths very soon. Their next three scheduled games are against teams with losing records.
Losing to the Capitals, though, heightens the stakes of the week ahead. The Islanders can keep talking about games in hand for now, but that won’t mean much if they can’t get points from those games.
They can afford a loss. They can’t afford many of them.
And if they come out and play like they did on Saturday again, that’s just what they’ll get.
