It wasn’t a blown third-period lead. It wasn’t a puzzling defensive zone collapse. But it was a jarring, unenergetic showing against an opponent they should be able to beat. A “Where the hell did that come from?” display when they should still be riding their New Coach High.
The New York Islanders’ tepid performance against the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon — ah, the dreaded matinee, kryptonite for this team — took the shine off what had been an impressive week coming out of the All-Star Break.
They gutted out a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, overcoming a late equalizer to still win in regulation. Then they absolutely dismantled the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were playing on a back-to-back — but again, that’s been no advantage to the Isles this year — and had their soul crushed in a 6-2 Isles win.
So Saturday’s showing against the Flames wasn’t alarming because of the result, but because of how few Islanders showed up with any energy. It’s great that they are playing better under Roy, and he’s been a breath of fresh air for them, but their maddening performances under Lane Lambert have left them with no extra margin of error. They simply cannot afford no-shows like the 5-2 home loss to the Flames.
Entering a week where they have only one game (Tuesday against the Kraken is their last before the Sunday outdoor game against the Rangers), the Isles were four points behind the second wild card slot, with an extra game played. They’re likely to lose ground over that week.
So the Kraken game looms large and the outdoor game looms large and…basically every game left is huge on their schedule. It’s hockey, so even in your best form you’re going to lose 40% of your games. But every night, every period, they have to give themselves a chance.
They already used all their mulligans under Lambert.