With Islanders mired in winless streak, should Lou Lamoriello still lead the way?

CALGARY, Alberta — His Islanders are mired in an 0-4-3 winless streak and face the possibility of taking an oh-fer on a four-game western swing. So, barring a rapid turnaround, until president/general manager Lou Lamoriello answers differently, there will be questions about coach Lane Lambert’s job security.

But the better question is whether Islanders ownership can allow Lamoriello to make a second coaching change in less than two seasons if he proposes one. Or should ownership, specifically majority owner Scott Malkin, consider more sweeping changes and start an organizational rebuild with an eye to the future rather than trying to squeeze into the playoffs this season?

The Islanders (5-6-5) will conclude their road trip on Saturday against the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome after Thursday night’s 4-3 eight-round shootout loss to the Kraken. The previous night, the Islanders lost in overtime to the Canucks, 4-3.

So the Islanders could return home on an eight-game skid after fans chanted for Lambert’s firing in the previous game at UBS Arena and for Lamoriello’s ouster in the home game before that.

Lambert, promoted to replace his longtime boss, Barry Trotz, before last season, was asked after Wednesday’s game about the responsibility he feels during this losing streak — code for whether he’s concerned about his job security.

Lambert specifically cited the penalty-kill struggles — more on that in a second — but noted, “We’re in it together.”

“I 100% feel for them,” Lambert said of his players. “There’s nobody that wants to win more than them. For whatever reason right now, we’re not getting rewarded. But there’s only one thing to do, and that is to keep going until you start to. It can change quickly.”

Observationally, there are no signs of fracture in the Islanders’ room and Lambert is correct in saying the players are giving good — if not always smart — efforts from start to finish. Those clearly are signs of a team that still likes playing for this coach.

“Everyone believes in the system and the group that we have to go out there and do it,” Brock Nelson said when specifically asked about the ineffectual penalty kill but touching on the team’s continued overall confidence in itself and the coaching staff.

The Islanders have allowed three power-play goals in back-to-back games — seven in the first three games of the road trip — and, overall, the penalty kill is an abysmal 12-for-24 over the last seven games as the parade of avoidable penalties continues.

That lack of discipline and failure to correct the penalty-kill problems — passivity among them — falls on Lambert.

But the 81-year-old Lamoriello, who is believed to have received a contract extension in the offseason, constructed this roster. Put more accurately, he has kept the core of this roster largely intact since he took over in 2018. Sure, he imported Bo Horvat, Pierre Engvall and Alexander Romanov last season. But not having enough young talent to supplant the core, as Lamoriello has dealt away four straight first-round picks, is eroding the organizational foundation.

Eleven players on the current roster are signed through at least 2026 and eight of them have some form of no-trade clause in their contract.

But the Islanders have made the playoffs in five of Lamoriello’s six seasons, making him the first Islanders GM to do so since Hall of Famer Bill Torrey.

The super-secretive Lamoriello never foreshadows his moves, and he did not join the Islanders on this trip after attending the GM meetings in Toronto earlier this week. Perhaps he’s preparing a candidate list.

The question is, should he be allowed to?

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.