STREAKING HALT
Islanders’ six-game winning run ends with disjointed loss in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — If the Islanders found reasons to be unsatisfied after a blowout win on Sunday, then they’ll have a whole lot more to work through after Monday night.
The cracks in their game that were evident in parts of wins over San Jose and Anaheim turned into a chasm against the Kings, who came away with a 3-0 victory to snap the Islanders’ six-game winning streak.
The California swing can still be counted as a success with wins in two out of three and the Isles tied on points with Detroit for the second wild-card spot, though the Red Wings edged ahead thanks to the regulation-wins tiebreaker on Monday.
But despite pulling themselves back into contention, the Islanders still cannot afford to give themselves any slack, and there was a lot to dislike on Monday.
Their breakouts were consistently poor, with the top-six getting hemmed in too consistently. When the Islanders did get into the offensive zone, their net presence abandoned them, allowing Kings netminder David Rittich to work unimpeded. They got too cute with the puck, too often — a trend that’s been noticeable for a few games now.
And their struggles on the second end of a backto-back remain a noteworthy issue, with the Isles still yet to win one in seven opportunities. There are only two back-to-backs left this season, but in a tight playoff race, those prove critical.
In a tight, defensive game it looked like the Islanders might be allowed enough could slack to get away from Los Angeles with at least a point despite their issues. They went into the third period down by just a goal after Adrian Kempe’s wrister 7:14 into the second accounted for the only scoring during the game’s first 40 minutes.
But despite a promising first few minutes of the period, the Kings extended the lead at 6:07 of the third as Phillip Danault tapped in Trevor Moore’s feed to the crease at the left post.
A door appeared to creak open when the Islanders had two power-play chances around the midpoint of the third, but both proved fruitless, with the power play turning in an 0-for-5 night including a negated five-on-three in the first period.
Trevor Moore sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 2:22 to go.
Of course, no one is ringing alarm bells after 6-0-1. The momentum remains very much in the Islanders’ corner after they ascended the standings in stunning fashion over the last two weeks.
But momentum can be lost just as easily as it can be gained. Recall the last extended win streak the Isles had, during a mid-December homestand, turned into a slide that eventually got Lane Lambert fired.
The Islanders don’t have any runway left to go on another losing skid, having composed their latest winning streak in the nick of time.
They can’t wait another two months to start the next one.