This previous Friday and Saturday, the New York Islanders cut up their first back-to-back of the season, beating the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in extra time earlier than shedding 6-3 to the defending Stanley Cup Florida Panthers on Saturday.
Whereas the outcomes have been totally different, there was a commonality.
In opposition to New Jersey, the Islander failed to carry onto their slim 3-2 lead, permitting a Jesper Bratt tying objective with 1:29 to play in regulation earlier than Bo Horvat scored the game-winner in extra time.
On Saturday, the Islanders jumped on the Panthers early, going up 3-0 at 11:41 of the primary, solely to permit six unanswered targets in what was an utter collapse.
Saturday was the second time this season the Islanders led however misplaced, and the fourth time in eight video games the place they misplaced a lead.
They’d two third-period leads in opposition to the Utah Hockey Membership of their season opener, permitting the 3-3 tying objective with 12:23 to play within the third and the 4-4 tying objective with 1:43 to play within the third, solely to lose 5-4 in extra time.
In opposition to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 19, a recreation that ended after a nine-round shootout, the Islanders led twice, 2-0 and 3-2, earlier than permitting the third-period tying objective with 2:10 to play in regulation.
The staff’s struggles with holding leads, shedding 23 video games in 2023-24 by which they’d a lead, was purported to be a factor of the previous after a Patrick Roy coaching camp.
Of these 23 video games, seven of these losses got here after Roy took over for Lane Lambert on Jan. 19, per MSGSN statistician Eric Hornick.
Blowing leads was a pattern final yr. Now, it is a full-fledged drawback.
Diving deeper into the numbers, the Islanders have had 10 leads this season and have failed to carry these lead 9 occasions.
The one recreation by which the Islanders led at any level and held the lead was of their 6-2 win in opposition to the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 14.
No, that is not a typo. Here is the breakdown:
UTAH: 3 leads, blew all 3
MTL: 2 lead, 1 multi-goal lead, blew each
COL: 1 lead, gained
NJD: 3 leads, blew all 3
FLA: 1 lead, 3-goal lead, blew it
Within the different three video games on the docket, the Islanders have been shut out.
Here is what Casey Cizikas stated following Saturday’s debacle:
“We have now to handle [the blown leads] as a gaggle. That is one thing that begins in right here, and it begins with, first off, a dialog and going over the place these errors are and what we are able to do higher. Nevertheless it’s one thing that we’ve acquired to determine.”
Essentially the most irritating half for the Islanders is that in the event that they held onto these leads, they could possibly be versus 3-3-2.
That might have them 5-2-1, sitting in third place within the Metropolitan Division heading into per week the place they face the Anaheim Geese (3-4-1), the Columbus Blue Jackets (3-3-1) and the Buffalo Sabres (4-4-1).
Holding their leads would have additionally meant that they might nonetheless be trailing the New York Rangers (6-1-1, 13 P) and the Devils by two factors since New Jersey would not have 14 by 12 video games (6-4-2) however 13 with 4 video games in hand.
It is not practical to go 82 video games and maintain onto each lead. Even the very best groups within the NHL fail to shut out video games a handful of occasions a season.
However given how shut the Metro and Jap Wild-Card races have been, the Islanders’ failing to lock up factors the best way they’ve makes their path to the playoff that a lot harder.
