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It might be time to worry.
The Islanders were beaten for the second time in a row and defeated for the third consecutive time in a 5-0 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, stopping their eight-game winning streak in a row. the New York rivalry.
The Islanders (10-8-2) are still 12-2-0 against the Rangers since Dec. 2, 2015, including a 7-5 win at Barclays Center last Thursday, but a terrible first eighth match destroys no hope of continue this domination.
It was also the Islanders' first loss to an opponent in the Metropolitan Division this season, which became only the 11th NHL team to start a season with seven straight wins in their division.
The Islanders, excluded for the first time this season as they had started a four-game streak in six days, have always missed the net with their shots and have not had enough traffic to thwart Alexandar Georgiev (29 stops). Robin Lehner (22 saves) started for the first time since November 10, although he made 11 saves in relief against Thomas Greiss in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Stars in Brooklyn.
That's 16 goals in three games.
There is obviously no excuse for hockey, but it can not be denied that Islanders have a small population.
Two-thirds of what was once considered the best NHL line-up are on the injured list. The center, Casey Cizikas (lower body), lasts two to three weeks and left winger Matt Martin (upper body) misses his eighth straight game. And the third member of this lineage, Cal Clutterbuck, was missing Wednesday night because of the disease.
In addition, left winger Andrew Ladd (lower body), who is in the top six this season, is absent for an indefinite period.
The third replica line of Ross Johnston and rookie Michael Dal Colle, who was playing his sixth NHL game alongside Bridgeport (AHL) compatriot Stephen Gionta, was the only coach of the Islanders. Barry Trotz, did not juggle with the third period.
In addition, Clutterbuck was surprisingly dismissed – he participated in the morning skating but left the ice early – the shots on goal of the Islanders were even more impacted.
The Rangers took a 3-0 lead at 8:04 of the first period thanks to Neal Pionk's power play goal with Leo Komarov – one of the Islanders' other best penalty killers – in the area. penalty for a slight cut in rookie Rangers Filip Chytil. Defender Ryan Pulock was also temporarily unavailable following a violent collision with Lehner.
Chytil's goal just 29 seconds after the start of the match, extending his five-goal series, was a bit of a coincidence if his attempt to deflect the right circle deflected Pulock and came back to him as he headed for the wall.
Defender Tony DeAngelo's deflection by Cody McLeod of the good point that gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 3:30 was also a result of mishaps by some Islanders. Defender Scott Mayfield went to get a volley from behind the crease but his soft pass for his defense partner Thomas Hickey was intercepted behind the net by McLeod, who, as the puck was heading for the blue line, went off. is positioned behind Hickey.
The fact that the Islanders tightened for the most part during the second period – allowing only five shots – did not help, again because of an error. Mayfield, under the watchful eye of Chytil, returned the puck to the bottom of his box and Kevin Hayes was allowed to skate smoothly for a 4-0 lead at 17:17.
The Islanders' shooting inaccuracy continued to be a problem, having missed the goal by four goals, Jordan Eberle missed the ball in the net after collecting Pulock's rebound.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He started reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has already covered the Rangers and Devils. The Jets, St. John's and MLB were also named.
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