It’s only six games into the season, but already the Islanders are facing real adversity.
As the Islanders head home from Florida, coach Lane Lambert and his team are staring down a three-game losing streak following a winless trip that ended with a 3-2 defeat to the Panthers on Sunday. Unlike their loss to the Lightning a night earlier, this one was not as competitive as the score suggests.
Anton Lundell scored less than a minute into the match, stripping Adam Pelech behind the net and then scoring from a tight angle past Semyon Varlamov. When Lambert tried to juggle the lines, something he did with success in a win over the Sharks last week, Eetu Luostarinen scored for the Panthers on the first shift that Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom were together, with Lundell assisting.
The Islanders did not record their first high-danger chance at even strength until over six minutes into the third period. They were knocked off pucks, beaten below the hashes, beaten on the forecheck and beaten on the walls for most of the night. The score was closer, and the opposition was better, but for long stretches this bore an alarming resemblance to Thursday’s effort against the Devils.