Last night's 5-2 New York Islanders loss to sizzling Vancouver at UBS Arena helps to explain why coach Lane Lambert's sextet is in the midst of taking a deep breath in this race. The Islanders need to take a second breath.

"It's a marathon, not a sprint."

That bromide best describes the challenge of plowing through an 82-game National Hockey League schedule. 

Last night's 5-2 New York Islanders loss to sizzling Vancouver at UBS Arena helps to explain why coach Lane Lambert's sextet is in the midst of taking a deep breath in this race. The Islanders need to take a second breath.

By contrast, the Canucks -- 11-2-2 since December 5th -- are still on their first breather, having swept the Devils 6-4, Rangers 6-3, and now the Islanders. Or, to put it another way, the Visitors made a mess of the Metros.  

"The Canucks played 'North,' and they played quickly," Lambert explained. "We weren't very good in moving pucks and playing quickly, and we didn't generate a lot."

That's an understatement.

The Orange and Blue managed to hurl only 20 shots at backup goalie Casey DeSmith. 

The two that eluded him were produced by Brock Nelson. The Minnesotan's first red light made it a 3-1 game, and his second goal lifted his club to a 2-4 deficit in the third period.

And that was all she wrote -- and all the Locals could score.

"We're almost at the halfway point in the season," Nelson pointed out, "and every team in our division is kind of making a push. We're right there, so now we've got to string together a few to get some momentum"

That's more easily said than done, especially since his mates fail to provide more offense for too-often-beleaguered goalkeeper Ilya Sorokin. Typically, the Isles were outshot, and this time, it was 33 pucks fired at Ilya. 

"Vancouver is good," said Kyle Palmieri, "and we didn't show our best."

The question is, "Why not?"

The answer is that Tocchet's team blanked ex-Canuck hero Bo Horvat along with linemate Mathew Barzal. Another reason was the late first-period letdown, which led to a 2-0 deficit. 

Lambert: "To come out of the first period down 2-0 was very difficult to swallow.  We just didn't sustain anything. But give them credit; they play well."

More to the point, Vancouver's best players were better than their Islanders counterparts.

Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes' first-period goals torpedoed the Isles for all intents and purposes. Superstar Elias Pettersson provided the winner at 10:20 of the second period.

No doubt Isles boss Lou Lamoriello is doing some thinking. There's still the chance that Zach Parise could be lured out of retirement. He'd provide veteran leadership while bolstering the offense. He also might help if Casy Cizikas' injury last night is serious.

The scrappy center left the game last night and we likely will know later today about a diagnosis.

The roster did get a boost last night when D-man Adam Pelech returned after a 20-game injury recuperation. As a result, Sam Bolduc watched from the press box.

"It was great to be back," Adam asserted, "but I wasn't thrilled with my game." Then a pause, "But no excuses." 

There should be no excuses for the team. The Canucks figured to be weary after consecutive games with the Devils and Rangers, but they had the jump, not the home team.

What matters most is that the Isles remain in the thick of the Met Division mayhem. The loss marked only the first consecutive regular defeats since last November 11.

As for the future, the Toronto goal machine will be on display tomorrow night at UBS at 7:30 p.m. 

Hello again, John Tavares!