‘O’ no! Isles can’t afford their sudden lack of scoring
To find the last time the Islanders were shut out in consecutive games, you have to go all the way back to 49 months ago, when a 5-0 and 1-0 losses in Nashville and Vegas got the ball rolling on a messy 2-7-4 stretch that was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
So yes, the 120 straight minutes of messy offense that spoiled a promising start to a fourgame road trip can be rightly called an anomaly. But that does not make it any less urgent of a matter to fix the problem with the Senators and Rangers looming in a weekend back-to-back in which the Islanders will need better to get to Monday still in a playoff spot.
After exploding for 13 goals in the two games that started the road trip, perhaps some regression was in order for the Islanders. And surely circumstances — facing the Kings on the second end of a back-to-back and then Buffalo in their first game back on the East Coast — did not help. But the obvious counter is that the Islanders scored a lot against two terrible teams in San Jose and Anaheim then struggled when the competition ramped up.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but the Islanders can’t wait around to find out.
“This morning we were clear: we need net presence,” coach Patrick Roy told reporters after the team practiced Friday on Long Island. “We need to support each other in the battles. We need to be quicker on jumping on those loose pucks. More a unit of five than what we’ve been doing, maybe, the last two games. ’Cause we got way too much talent to be shut out two games in a row.”
Unsurprisingly, the 4-0 loss to Buffalo on Thursday accounted for the Islanders’ second-worst output of the season in terms of expected goals and their worst for high-danger chances at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
Where the scoreline had been unflattering to the Islanders in Los Angeles, with the combination of the Kings’ quick transitions and David Rittich having a strong game in net helping create a tough night for the offense, it was the polar opposite in Western New York. Thursday was on the Islanders and the Islanders alone, with nearly every pass looking off and nearly every player looking out-ofsync.
That extended to the power play, which has now gone 11 straight opportunities without scoring since Brock Nelson’s goal in Anaheim and is an abysmal 5-for-37 (13.5 percent) dating back to Feb. 20.
Ironically, the downturn in the power play has coincided with the penalty kill being passable for the first time all season. If the Islanders could ever get both going at the same time, they probably would stroll into the playoffs.
Regardless, the Islanders are walking a thin line right now. They’ve gotten themselves into a playoff spot via their play over the past few weeks, but that will prove short-lived if the weekend goes poorly. It’s not just the Red Wings nipping at their heels — the Capitals and Sabres look primed to make it a six-team race for three spots between the two wildcard places and third in the Metropolitan Division.
“Once you find that way, you get one, confidence coming right back,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said Friday. “You just stick with it. I think that’ll be our mentality.”
TAMPA, Fla. — Matt Rempe still has two games to serve on his suspension for his elbow to the head of the Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler on Monday night, but Rempe’s fellow fourth-line skyscraper Adam Edstrom is back with the Rangers after being recalled on Friday from AHL Hartford.
Edstrom had two goals in 11 games with the Rangers before getting sent down at the trade deadline when the team acquired forwards Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic. The 6-foot-7, 234-pound winger from Sweden could draw back in immediately on Saturday afternoon against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
The Rangers did not have any healthy scratches at forward for their 6-3 loss to the Lightning on Thursday night. In that game, Artemi Panarin took a slash to the right hand from Victor Hedman. And Jonny Brodzinski hasn’t made much of a mark in two games as Rempe’s replacement, so there are several potential paths to the ice for Edstrom.
➤ Jonathan Quick is expected to get the start in Pittsburgh, with Igor Shesterkin likely back in the net for Sunday afternoon’s Garden showdown against the Islanders.
Quick was in the cage on Nov. 11 at PPG Paints Arena when the Rangers shut out the Penguins, 1-0, stopping 32 shots in what’s regarded as one the best goaltending games in the NHL this season.
Quick is 14-5-2 this season, and is two wins away from tying Ryan Miller for most all-time victories by an American-born goaltender (391).
➤ Chris Kreider will play in his 800th career game in Pittsburgh, which ranks 10th in franchise history. His next power-play goal will tie him with Brian Leetch at 106 for third most on the Rangers’ alltime list behind Camille Henry (116) and Rod Gilbert (108).
➤ The Rangers on Friday agreed to terms with a goaltender who can see eye-to-eye with Rempe and Edstrom. Hugo Ollas ,a 6-foot-7 Swede, was drafted in the seventh round in 2020 and spent the last three seasons at Merrimack College.