Islanders shut out for fourth time this season, drop third straight in loss to Blue Jackets
New York Islanders' Semyon Varlamov, left, makes a save as teammate Noah Dobson, right, and Columbus Blue Jackets' James van Riemsdyk look for the rebound during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: AP/Jay LaPrete
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Praise the defense or criticize the offense?
Both are appropriate when it comes to the Islanders.
There was nothing wrong with the defensive structure or goalie Semyon Varlamov on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena in the start of a two-game road trip. But the same could be said for the Blue Jackets and their netminder, Elvis Merzlikins.
It led to a 2-0 defeat, the third straight for the Islanders (3-5-2). Starting a stretch of nine of 11 on the road, it’s not implausible to suggest their season could spiral out of control early because of their inability to finish.
“It’s getting more and more frustrating,” Bo Horvat said. “For us, it’s just a matter of bearing down on our chances. I don’t know what else to say or how else to put it. It’s not like we’re not getting them. It’s not for a lack of effort. When you have the puck on your stick, you’ve got to make sure it’s in the back of the net.”
They’ve now scored one or fewer goals in five of their 10 games and been shut out four times. Yet they allowed just one five-on-five goal in back-to-back losses, including Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat to the Ducks at UBS Arena.
The post-game questions sound like a broken record. But there are no fresh answers.
“If we knew the answers, we’d try and solve it,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We just have to stick together as a group. Keep pushing and we’ve got to bear down. A lot of good looks. If they start going in for us, we’ll get the results.
“We can build on our defensive game.”
Defenseman Damon Severson made it 1-0 on a fluky goal from the right wall at 5:43 of the third period as his attempted cross-ice feed pinballed past Varlamov (24 saves) off the skate of defenseman Ryan Pulock. Justin Danforth clinched the evenly-played match with an empty-netter.
Allowing just one goal should have afforded Varlamov the opportunity to win.
But Merzlikins stopped all 26 shots for the Blue Jackets (5-3-1), now on a 3-0-1 streak.
“They got the bounce off our skate,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “Varly was solid the whole game. Their goalie made great saves also. We got chances, breakaways, backdoor passes. We’ve just got to bear down on those. We can’t stop believing now, 10 games in. There’s definitely an urgency that everyone [should] step up, including myself.”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy tweaked his lines, separating Horvat and Mathew Barzal to start, putting Simon Holmstrom and Max Tsyplakov on Horvat’s wings while Barzal skated on Brock Nelson’s left wing along with Kyle Palmieri. But Horvat and Barzal were back together with Tsyplakov to start the second period while Holmstrom went to Nelson’s line.
Roy also moved Casey Cizikas from the fourth line to Pageau’s right wing with Anders Lee in the second period while Hudson Fasching skated with Kyle MacLean and Matt Martin on the fourth line. But Martin didn’t play the final 9:47 of the game and Fasching sat the last 14:17.
“We deserve to be disappointed because we played a really good game in back-to-back games,” Roy said. “Coming up with that kind of game, I thought we deserved better than that. At the end, we couldn’t find the back of the net. We’re going to the net. We’re bringing pucks to the net. The bounces are just not going our way. How many times did [Merzlikins] look behind him tonight? They were great chances and we just couldn’t finish.
“It’s a team thing right now and we’re going to get out of it together.”
Notes & quotes: Defenseman Alexander Romanov (upper body/day to day) was out of the lineup for the third straight time but did skate before the game, meaning he might be available when the Islanders face the Sabres on Friday night…Forward Pierre Engvall, in the second season of a seven-year, $21 million deal, was a healthy scratch just three games after being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He logged 9:16 on the fourth line against the Ducks and took two penalties that led to power-play goals…Forward Oliver Wahlstrom remained a healthy scratch.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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