The New York Islanders should have stayed home on Tuesday night. Instead, they let the Boston Bruins skate all over them for three periods.
- New York Islanders 0 (42-24-7, 91 points)
- Boston Bruins 5 (44-20-9, 97 points)
- Box Score, NHL, Final
- Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
The Boston Bruins are a formidable opponent with a reputation that precedes them. Knowing how intimidating their attack can be, Barry Trotz’s group needed to amp up their competitiveness.
What followed was as bad as anyone could have predicted.
The Islanders weren’t beat, to have been defeated implies there was an effort put forth. Like Josh Ho-Sang’s 2015 training camp, the Islanders slept through their alarms and didn’t bother putting any effort into this game.
Boston outshout the Isles 39-13 and the game-winning goal was netted just over a minute into the first period.
Mayfield: “They were playing May hockey and we were playing October hockey.”
— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) March 20, 2019
There are just nine games left in the Islanders season and on a night where they could have kept pace with Washington, they let the lead slip. Now find themselves in a tricky spot.
Washington is in the driver’s seat of the Metro division and the Islanders are leaving the door ajar for teams below in the standings. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes brings them within two points of second, with the latter now just four points away.
The Montreal Canadiens are up next for the Islanders, and the competition will not get any easier. The Canadiens managed to pull away with two big points over a desperate Flyers squad and find themselves a single point out of a playoff spot.
There is no margin for error at this point in the playoff push. No-show efforts like the Isles displayed Tuesday night are unacceptable. How Trotz responds to his squad’s showing is key.
With six of the remaining games against opponents in a playoff spot, this has to be the last instance where the Islanders turn in this type of lackluster performance.
The performance on the ice was bad, but the injuries are just as concerning. Both Valtteri Filppula and Cal Clutterbuck left the game and did not return—with no update available for either player.
Hopefully, an intense practice session on Wednesday can help the Islanders put this one behind them. Trotz needs to do what he’s done all season and keep these skids from going any further. He did exactly that in the team’s recent 2-0 shutout win over Columbus.
In any case, the Islanders will look to put this one firmly behind them as they head north to face a hungry Canadiens squad.
