The New York Islanders ring in 2018 right where they left off–with another dismal effort in a brutal loss to the Boston Bruins, but this time, on home ice.
- New York Islanders (20-16-4, 44 points)
- Boston Bruins (22-10-6, 50 points)
- NYI Goals: Jordan Eberle (14)
- BOS Goals: Danton Heinen (10), Patrice Bergeron (12), Brad Marchand (16), Tim Schaller (5), Noel Acciari (5)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Another no-show by the New York Islanders led them to a 5-1 rout on home ice by a Boston Bruins team who has a lot of momentum coming into 2018.
Frankly, there’s only one highlight from tonight, and it belongs to Jordan Eberle‘s 14th of the season on an amazing individual effort to force a turnover and undress Tuukka Rask for a tie game.
Jordan Eberle ties it at 1-1 off the face-off.#Isles pic.twitter.com/9RpbIy0XDX
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 3, 2018
Past that, the Bruins answered with four unanswered goals to take a commanding lead and two points from the Islanders.
The Isles have now lost three games straight and are 0-4-0 against the Boston Bruins at the Barclays Center.
Truth be told, the entire game wasn’t all bad for the Islanders. The first two periods were more evenly fought (despite the overall edge going to Boston) but from Marchand’s goal onward it was all downhill.
Blunt Honesty
The Islanders are not a good defensive team, and this problem needed to have been solved more than 10 games ago. The reliance on a defensive core that is comprised of at least two rookies a night isn’t cutting it, and General Manager Garth Snow is running out of time to address the issue.
The Isles IR now includes Johnny Boychuk and Calvin de Haan, with one set to miss about a month, and the other out for the rest of the regular season.
Past the defense, the goaltending has not been up to snuff this season whatsoever. Despite his trending play, Jaroslav Halak had another forgettable night in goal and the Islanders’ hands are tied with the desolate market.
Regardless of what changes are made, some sort of change is needed on the market. The Isles will be dealing from a point of need, so it will be a jaded deal, but at this point, the Isles struggles are causing them to slip quickly in the standings.
Time is running out, and with the Hurricanes’ point tonight the Isles are now out of a playoff spot.
Your move, Garth.
