The New York Islanders proved adept at climbing out of precarious positions the previous two seasons.
But the Islanders finally might have dug themselves a hole too deep.
The Islanders attempt to halt an untimely losing streak and begin a last-ditch push for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot Tuesday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders were off Monday after they completed a back-to-back road set Sunday with a 6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Lightning are playing New York for the second straight time after holding off a furious third-period comeback in a 5-3 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The consecutive weekend losses may have provided an unfortunate summation of the season for the Islanders (32-31-10, 74 points), who nearly overcame a four-goal deficit Saturday before they came back from a 2-0 hole Sunday to take a short-lived lead in the second period.
Anders Lee scored at 4:05 of the third to tie Sunday’s game again before Carolina’s Dmitry Orlov collected the game-winner with 10:41 left.
“It shows a lot of that group — it’s not easy to come back,” said Islanders coach Patrick Roy. “I think the guys are giving me everything they have and I love (them) for that.”
But a five-game losing streak (0-3-2) and a challenging homestand this week means New York is running out of time to make another late-season charge.
The Islanders, who host the playoff-bound Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals on Thursday and Sunday, take the ice Tuesday three points behind the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers in the race for the second wild card.
The Islanders earned an Eastern Conference wild card in 2023 by going 11-6-1 after March 1. They clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division last season by going 8-0-1 after April 1.
“We need points and it’s going to come down to the last game so we can’t give up,” said Islanders left winger Pierre Engvall, who posted his first career two-goal game Sunday.
The only suspense for the surging Lightning (43-25-5, 91 points) involves where they’ll finish in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay, which will make the playoffs for the eighth straight season, is tied for second with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. They’re three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Brayden Point scored twice Saturday for the Lightning, which went 3-0 while outscoring the opposition 19-4 during a homestand that ended Saturday. The 19 goals are the most Tampa Bay has scored in a three-game span this season.
“We’ve had a lot of things go our way on this homestand, but we earned them,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
But Cooper still saw plenty of room for improvement after the Lightning were outshot 38-24 and allowed the Islanders to score three goals in less than three minutes prior to the midway point of the third period. Tampa Bay didn’t ice the win until Jake Guentzel scored an empty-netter with 14 seconds remaining.
“Learning experiences come in so many different ways, shapes, forms,” Cooper said. “Maybe the best ones come when you can sneak away with a win and you get to learn from that as well.”
–Field Level Media
