Third-period leads were generally safe with the New York Islanders under Barry Trotz.
Even in the nightmarish, COVID and injury-riddled 2021-22 season, they lost five games when leading after two periods.
But in each of the previous two seasons when they made consecutive Stanley Cup Semifinals, they only dropped three games when entering the third period with a lead.
The Islanders have blown six third-period leads this season under first-year head coach Lane Lambert and wound up losing throughout the first 56 games of the season. Five of those losses have come in their last nine games in which they had a lead through two frames including their last two games against the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens.
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In total, they’ve lost nine points in the standings in such situations, which is the most in the NHL so far this season.
“Two leads blown the last couple games in the third period. We’re usually known to lock it down,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We have to do a better job. We’ve been careless with the puck.”
The Islanders have committed 36 giveaways over those last two games, including an abysmal 23 against the Canucks on Thursday night.
“A lot of mistakes, a lot of individual turnovers,” Lambert said on Thursday night. “You’re not going to win a hockey game doing that.”
While he went on to say that it’s a “combination of everybody,” and that “there’s no finger-pointing” when leads are being blown like this, Lambert alluded to the “individual” again on Saturday after the loss to the Canadiens when assessing the issues that are plaguing his team.
“There’s a certain point in time as an individual you have to win a battle,” Lambert said after his team allowed two third-period goals to the Canadiens in a 4-3 overtime loss. “When that doesn’t happen, you decrease your chances of holding that lead.”
Whether it’s fair or not, the business of finger-pointing goes hand-in-hand in sports — especially when things aren’t going well. While general Lou Lamoriello was forced to dismantle key parts of the defense in recent years due to the cap crunch, having to trade away the likes of Nick Leddy and Devon Toews, the Islanders have had the same core of blue-liners for the last three years with Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Noah Dobson, and Scott Mayfield as the mainstays.
On top of the turnovers and zone exits that have often become an adventure comes the even more concerning development that has seen an unwillingness to clear out the area in front of goal. It hinders the sightlines of goalies Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov and leaves them hung out to dry in high-danger situations.
A defense that didn’t have these sorts of lapses this often under Trotz suddenly is with Lambert at the helm — and it’s cost them dearly.
If the Islanders hold on to just half of those third-period leads that they’ve blown, they’re currently sitting in the top Eastern Conference Wild Card spot rather than being on the outside of the playoff picture.
Obviously, the downturn in play has led to questions about the commitment and urgency of these players. It’s a question that has been asked to Lambert a few times already this season. Of course, he won’t suggest that there’s an issue, but the play on the ice certainly says something else.
And that ultimately is going to fall on the head coach.
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