Islanders' Patrick Roy says Anthony Duclair was 'god awful' in team's fourth straight loss
Anthony Duclair of the New York Islanders skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders are getting less when they need more.
So their fourth straight regulation loss, extending their slide to 0-4-2 with a 4-1 defeat to the playoff-bound Lightning to open a three-game homestand at UBS Arena, left them with a self-realized grim reality as they slipped five points behind the Canadiens — who beat the Panthers 3-2 in overtime after tying it in the last seconds of regulation — for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
“These last eight [games], we’re going to have to win pretty much all of them in order to give ourselves a chance to get in,” said Bo Horvat, who scored his first goal in five games on a shorthanded rush to tie it at 1-1 at 10:57 of the first period.
“We need to regroup here,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “We have eight games left. We have to go win those games.”
The Islanders (32-32-10) went 0-for-4 on the power play with Ilya Sorokin stopping 20 shots as they continued to make costly mistakes at crucial times. There was blame all around.
But coach Patrick Roy, when asked about Anthony Duclair getting just 12:15 of ice time, expressed particular displeasure with his top-six right wing.
“He was god awful,” Roy said. “He had a bad game. That’s why I didn’t play him a lot. And he’s lucky to be in the lineup. I’m sorry if I lose it on him right now but that’s how I feel. He’s not skating, he’s not competing, he’s not moving his feet. He’s not playing up to what we expect from him.
“I think it’s an effort thing.”
Overall, there was nothing resembling the push the Islanders needed in the third period trailing 3-1 despite opening the final frame with a man advantage.
“No, I didn’t,” Horvat said when asked if thought the Islanders generated enough. “We had a chance to gain a little bit of momentum going into the third on the power play. We took the penalty [a slash on Anders Lee 24 seconds in]. I’m not blaming anybody. Even after that, there wasn’t enough pushback. We didn’t really sustain a lot of offensive-zone pressure. We knew they were going to pack it in.”
The Lightning (44-25-4), who got 28 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy, took control with two second-period goals within two minutes, 32 seconds. Nikita Kucherov, in the left corner, found Jake Guentzel open at the right post as he got behind defenseman Adam Pelech for a 2-1 lead at 8:09. And defenseman Victor Hedman was allowed to skate into the low slot to make it 3-1 at 10:41 as the Islanders had a poorly executed line change.
“We’re making mistakes that are critical and it’s costing us,” Pulock said. “There’s just moments when you have to bear down and get a puck out or bear down and don’t change. We’re just kind of killing ourselves with little mistakes.”
The Islanders did have chances to take the lead in the second period but failed to generate any kind of sustained attack on back-to-back power plays that included 13 seconds over overlapping five-on-three time. Horvat shot wide as he kept the puck on an odd-man rush early in the second period, then whiffed on a power-play one-timer from the right circle.
The Islanders did end last season on an 8-0-1 run to finish in third place in the Metropolitan Division. But now, they are only five points ahead of the Bruins for last in the conference.
Oliver Bjorkstrand deflected defenseman Darren Raddysh’s point shot to open the scoring at 8:46 of the first period and Nick Paul clinched it with an empty-netter at 16:29 of the third period.
Notes & quotes: Copiague Harbor’s Ross Mitton, a right-shooting forward, 24, signed an amateur tryout offer with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport as an undrafted free agent after compiling four goals and seven assists in 31 games for Maine. He spent the previous four seasons playing for Colgate . . . Cameron Berg of North Dakota, a fourth-round pick in 2021, also signed an ATO with Bridgeport. Berg, 23, a left-shooting forward, had 12 goals and 10 assists in 26 games as a senior . . . Defensemen Scott Mayfield, Mike Reilly and Scott Perunovich and forward Matt Martin remained healthy scratches.
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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