Islanders get steamrolled by Canucks as disappointing slide continues
The Islanders cracks are starting to add up into a chasm.
In their first game back at home after a four-game road trip, with defenseman Adam Pelech back in the lineup, facing a Canucks team on its second night of a back-to-back, the Isles responded to the confluence of positive circumstances by losing to Vancouver, 5-2, in a game that was not all that competitive.
More concerning, the loss marked their fourth in the last five games and dropped their record to 4-5-3 since Dec. 15.
Overtime losses aside, that means theyve won just four of their last 12 games and there is only so long that collecting loser points can keep hem afloat in the airtight Metropolitan Division, where just two points separate third place from seventh.
We just werent very good tonight in terms of moving pucks, playing quickly, coach Lane Lambert said after his side accounted for just eight shots across the games final 40 minutes. And as a result, we didnt really generate a whole lot.
5Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (40) scores on Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) during the second period. Robert Sabo for NY PostPelech did not quite look himself in his return from a presumed wrist injury and Ilya Sorokin, appearing in a seventh straight game with Semyon Varlamov hurt, stopped 28 of 32 shots, continuing a season in which he has been good but not great.
Thing is, the Islanders right now need their goaltender to be great because their defense is anything but.
Tuesday, they let a red-hot Canucks team which completed a sweep through the local teams hem them in all too often, struggling to beat their forecheck and deal with superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Hughes pair with Filip Hronek was responsible for each of the opening two goals, with Hronek adding insult to injury by scoring at the 16:25 mark of the first right after Casey Cizikas limped off having blocked a Nikita Zadorov slap shot. (Cizikas briefly returned, then left the game for good in the second).
5A shot from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers (57) gets by Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Robert Sabo for NY PostHughes then got in on the act a little over two minutes later, walking from the circle to the slot before completing an excellent individual effort to make it 2-0.
We clearly didnt identify the low forward, Lambert said. To have him walk off the half-wall like that into the middle, it just cant happen.
It only got worse from there.
Pelechs turnover followed by Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller playing catch across the crease let Pettersson make it 3-0 10:20 into the second.
Then quickly after Brock Nelsons power-play goal seemed to give the Islanders something to build on, the Canucks started tilting the ice again.
5Vancouver Canucks goaltender Casey DeSmith (29) makes a stop during the third period. Robert Sabo for NY PostThat culminated in Tyler Myers beating Sorokin clean with a slap shot from the top of the right circle to put Vancouver up 4-1 going into the second intermission the sort of shot Sorokin rarely lets in.
They kept coming at us, Pelech said. It wasnt like they got a lead and backed off.
There was no late comeback effort waiting for the Islanders, either.
Down three in the third, the Islanders instead failed to generate much of a push at all, aside from a late power-play goal by Nelson to save some face.
5Islanders center Brock Nelson (29) scores during the second period. Robert Sabo for NY PostDakota Joshuas empty-net goal within seconds after the Isles pulled Sorokin shut the door on any comeback hopes.
Most alarming about Tuesday is that the Islanders came in with two days of rest facing a team that had played on Monday and looked like the slower, less-energetic team.
It wasnt especially close, either.
Just not as clean or quick as wed like to execute to get up through the neutral zone, Nelson said. It cost us a couple times. Theyre a good team give them opportunities like that in transition, one of the best offenses in the league, theyre gonna make you pay. They did tonight.
5New York Islanders right wing Cal Clutterbuck (15) takes a shot during the first period. Robert Sabo for NY PostA close second was Sorokin, who has not played to his 2022-23 level all season long and let in four goals for the 15th time in 28 starts this year.
It is unfair to blame that entirely on the goalie, since he has faced more shots than anyone else in the league and is playing in front of a defense that has been battered all year long.
But it is far from ideal, and he wasnt near his best on Tuesday.
Right now, far from ideal describes the Islanders pretty well too.
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