One other burnt track. One other home defeat. One other goalless night in the power game. One other likelihood the Islanders let slip through their fingers.
Play it again, Sam.
The Islanders left the UBS Arena ice Wednesday night on the same path of disappointment that has change into commonplace since they returned from western Canada greater than every week ago. In the fourth match in a row, they scored the first goal. For the third of those 4 – and the fourth of 5 at home – they lost. And after losing 4-1 to the Bruins Islanders (23-19-4), they’ve lost as repeatedly this season as they’ve won.
“Is it low level? Again, we’d like to pick up some wins here,” said coach Lane Lambert. “It’s a troublesome league, a merciless league and no person feels sorry for us.”
Their point percentage is still over .500, and the league-leading Bruins have all the time been a troublesome two-point team. But at the end of the day, the Islanders squandered a fantastic first period and lost a game they might have won.
![Taylor Hall celebrates after Charlie McAvoy (not pictured) scored against Semyon Varlamov during the Islanders 4-1 loss to the Bruins.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Charlie-McAvoy.jpg?w=1024)
“It’s the little things at the moment, our mistakes seem to be the ones that find yourself at the back of the net,” Captain Anders Lee told The Post. “We do not give ourselves a cushion to have them, so in tight games once you play solid but make a couple of mistakes here and there, they cost you.”
The Islanders held firm against the Bruins, even after a 1-0 lead became a 2-1 loss, however it’s hard for a team to win against such a ruthless opponent when their power play is goalless and their goalkeeper is anything but excellent.
Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Islanders, looked rusty in his second game in a month, and his team looked higher at even power than at 5-for-4, missing five power opportunities.
![Bruins star Brad Marchand (not pictured) scores against Semyon Varlamov during the Islanders' defeat.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Brad-Marchand.jpg?w=1024)
“The power play didn’t help us in any respect today,” Lee said.
“He killed us tonight,” said Mathew Barzal. “We have lost a couple of games recently.”
![Zach Parise celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period during the Islanders defeat.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Zach-Parise-1.jpg?w=1024)
The Bruins lost the game on their very own strength as Brad Marchand netted David Pastrnak through the gap untouched at 5:03 of the third period. That made it 3-1 and with almost quarter-hour left in regular time, the Islanders aren’t currently a team that seems able to recovering from a two-goal deficit.
The Islanders had their fifth power play opportunity just 33 seconds after Marchand’s goal. After Zach Parise’s redirect from behind the door bounced off the post – a symptom of a snakebite unit, if there ever was one – they hit a clean three of their last 50 five-on-four attempts.
To sprinkle salt on the wound, Trent Frederic headed a Charlie Coyle pass straight into the roof of the net with 4:22 left to make the rating 4-1. As the Islanders fans headed for the exits, chants of “Let’s Go Bruins” resounded at the UBS Arena, and the road team left the ice to a standing ovation.
The Bruins began attacking in the second period when Charlie McAvoy tied the rating with a one-shot from Matt Grzelcyk at 7:48. Just over 4 minutes later, Derek Forbort tapped the ball, which Varlamov had left in a kink, giving Boston the lead. After losses to his NHL debut William Dufour led to each goals, he was nailed to the bench for the remainder of the night and played just 6:48.
Barzal was asked in the locker room if the season was eluding the Islanders, who are actually some extent behind Pittsburgh for the last wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with two games played.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
True, the Islanders are removed from it. But something has to change. Quick. And preferably on power play.
“The current results don’t please anyone on this room,” Lee said of the 3-for-50 slip. “We’re going to do the whole lot we are able to to make it higher.”