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The New York Islanders now find themselves on a four-game losing skid, after losing both games of their back-to-back set this weekend.
4-3 OT LOSS TO SENATORS
Facing the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, the Islanders had a great chance to bounce back at home against a non-playoff team, following their back-to-back shutout losses. New York got off to a strong start as well, striking early just after a power play ended, when Matt Martin tucked a wraparound past Joonas Korpisalo. The Islanders looked good through a lot of the fist period from there, with Mathew Barzal having a couple great point-blank chances as well, but just weren’t quite able to extend the lead.
This gave Ottawa the opportunity to respond in the second period, off a nice shot from Brady Tkachuk on a rush. A little later though, the Islanders were able to reinstate the lead when Kyle Palmieri snuck a shot through Joonas Korpisalo, as New York held a lead through 40 minutes.
However, the back-and-forth continued in the third period, when the Islanders gave up a 2-on-0, and Ridly Greig finished off a set of passes with Tim Stutzle, tying the game again. Then on a power play for Ottawa later in the frame, Tkachuk buried his second goal of the game off a one-timer from pass from Tim Stutzle, leaving the Islanders trailing for the first time.
As the clock ticked down from there though, and with the Islanders on a late power play of their own, Bo Horvat took a one-timer pass and blew shot past Korpisalo with under a minute to go, tying the game again, and sending the contest to overtime.
In the extra frame though, Horvat followed up with a holding penalty, and with just 24 seconds left Ottawa was able to capitalize, with Shane Pinto sending a nice pass over to Tkachuk, who converted once more for his hat trick to send the Senators home with an extra point.
After having a lead, then blowing it and recovering to force the game to OT, it was a tough blow for the Islanders to give up the extra point against a team they really couldn't afford to lose to.
5-2 LOSS TO RANGERS
Then in today’s matchup against the New York Rangers, the Islanders once again managed to strike first, with Brock Nelson finding Bo Horvat with a great cross-crease pass, for Horvat to beat Igor Shesterkin, coming out of the opening period ahead. However, the Islanders’ lead was quickly erased, as Mika Zibanejad responded only 27 seconds into the second frame, capitalizing off an avoidable miscommunication between Ryan Pulock and Alexander Romanov behind the Islanders’ net. Then after a couple great chances for the Rangers, Will Cuylle took a nice pass from Ryan Lindgren to go in alone and beat Sorokin as well, putting the Rangers ahead.
However, despite the Rangers having the momentum for much of the period, Horvat was able to bury his second of the game off a point shot that dropped down in front of the net, tying the game again. But once again, the Islanders found themselves down shortly after when Johnny Brodzinski tipped in a point shot from K’Andre Miller only about a minute later, putting the Rangers back ahead through 40 minutes.
Things got worse from there, when Kaapo Kakko walked off the wall to beat Sorokin just minutes into the third period, creating a multi-goal lead for the Rangers. Then midway through the frame, Artemi Panarin found Alexis Lafreniere in the slot for a one-timer, making it 5-2 and putting the game pretty much out of reach. The Islanders had a couple fleeting chances but almost no sustained momentum after that, and the Rangers took the win.
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It’s a crucial set of losses for the Islanders, taking just one out of four possible points from the weekend. Especially with the Ottawa loss immediately following the Buffalo defeat, it was two straight losses against non-playoff teams. While they were at least facing tough competition in the Rangers this afternoon, they didn't have much fight to get back into the game by the third period, even if it was the second half of a back-to-back.
The Islanders were getting crushed deep in their own zone, with the Rangers dominating below faceoff dot. Multiple of the goals the Islanders gave up came from mistakes or lost battles behind the net or along the wall, with the puck eventually getting out to someone uncovered in scoring position.
Up front, Patrick Roy did try mixing up the lines, swapping Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmeiri. The lineup change wasn’t shocking following two shutout losses, and while a loaded top line worked for a while, it results in the team really counting on a single unit for a huge bulk of their offense.
Ultimately, after such an explosive offense where they scored 30 goals over their win streak, the Islanders have managed five goals over their last four games. While they’ve been allowing four goals per game over their losing skid as well, it’s going to be tough to win when the scoring issues have re-emerged in the short-term.
With the losses, the Islanders now find themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in, with 15 games to go. The Tampa Bay Lightning are emerging as favourites for the top wildcard spot, with the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals all in better position than the Islanders as well.
New York's next game will be a tough test once again, as they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, who are riding a three-game win streak. We did see the Islanders have improbable success against quality teams over the first part of their win streak, but they’re facing another fairly tough stretch of games coming up, as they battle to try to make up some ground in the East.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM MARCH
- Islanders' four-game win streak breathes life into playoff hopes
- Isles fail to pull ahead in playoff race with mixed results on road trip 
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