The New York Islanders players and Lane Lambert are aware of their third-period shortcomings. Here's what a handful of them had to say after yet another blown lead.

EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert didn't mince words Tuesday night after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period to the San Jose Sharks before falling 5-4 in overtime. 

"To lose that game is sin," the second-year bench boss said. 

With that disastrous defeat, the Islanders have now blown a third-period lead 11 times in 24 games, which includes blowing a third-period lead twice against the Calgary Flames in a shootout win and the New Jersey Devils, losing in regulation with 23 seconds to play.

Their record in those nine games sits at 3-5-1. 

"It's just obviously unacceptable by us," forward Bo Horvat said Wednesday morning. "A team like this, this is our identity, to be able to close out games, and right now, we're not doing that, and it's just unacceptable by us on the ice."

These mistakes aren't just on one player; finger-pointing won't solve anything.

"It takes everybody on the ice. You can't just blame defense or anybody like that," Horvat said. "I know us forwards have to do a better job of helping our defense, whether it's in the defensive zone or in the offensive zone.

"Everybody's gotta take ownership. Things go really bad when you start pointing fingers. So for us, we're all in here, and we're all in this together, and we got to figure out a way to collectively be better in those situations."

On the Sharks' tying with around 1:30 to play in the third period, Horvat and Scott Mayfield both got caught behind the Islanders' net, which eventually led to a back-door tap-in for Tomas Hertl, capping off his hat trick performance.

Plays like this, with two players taking the same guy behind the net, have played a critical role in their inability to lock down leads.

"For both of us, it was just a matter of trying to make up for what was going on," Horvat said. "I think it was more of a desperation play by both of us than anything at that time at that point of the game.

"You got to hand it to them. They made a good play, and next thing you know, it's in the back of our net.

Mayfield weighed in.

"Some of it is communication. Some of it is just trying to be aggressive, and they've got an extra guy on the ice," Mayfield said. "It kind of goes both ways.

"We both ended up behind the net. I don't think that's what we wanted. And it's one of those they make a bang-bang play, too. You can look at the puck off the glass that didn't get out. You can look at every little thing on those plays when you dissect it, but in the end, you've got to figure out what gets it done. I think there have been times in the third at the end of games there where we just haven't gotten it done."

Lambert also touched on aggressiveness being an issue in that play between Horvat and Mayfield Tuesday night, along with similar mistakes in previous third-period breakdowns.

"Guys are trying to do too much, and as a result, there was some duplication."

Outside of those mistakes, the Islanders as a whole aren't being aggressive enough in third periods. They're retreating in an effort to hold leads, being outshot 34-17 in the final frame.

"The other team's always gonna have a push when you're up, but for me, it's just we got to stay aggressive, be confident in our plays, and just make sure we're doing all the little details right," Mayfield said. "Some of that's kind of slipped away here and there, and when a team has a push, and you make a mistake, and it ends up in a great scoring chance, it seems like those are going in right now.

"For me, it's a confidence thing. We're in between the second and third. Every guy in this room just needs to know that we're gonna go out there, be aggressive, play hard, and they're not going to get many chances. So that's what we have to get back to."

Noah Dobson doesn't quite know what's been changing after a strong 40 minutes.

He just knows it has to stop.

"It's been an issue in too many games where we should have closed out and found ways to win, but we've found ways to lose instead," Dobson said. "But there's a lot of good in the games. We just have to find ways to clean up the thirds, especially at home. The last couple of games on the road, we found a way to close out those games, and we just got to do the same at home and continue to build and learn."

It's been a few years since the Islanders found themselves playing the shutdown-style hockey that brought them to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals. While the structure and personnel have been tweaked, there are more than a handful of players still here from those groups who know what needs to be done to get back to that point. 

Just for whatever reason, this year, their defensive blunders in third periods have washed away strong 40 minutes of play. 

"[Holding leads] has been our Mo in those situations. One-goal, two-goal lead, we've always found ways to close those out," Dobson said. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been going that way so far this year, but I think the group has a lot of belief and confidence in one another that we can get back to that, and we're gonna keep working and make sure we get there at some point."

Defenseman Mike Reilly has played in just four games for New York since being acquired via waivers. They've blown third-period leads in three of the four. 

"I think even when the game was 3-1, 4-1 last night, I think, for sure, we could add another one or two in the back of the net there," Reilly said. "But you're not gonna score six or seven every night. I think they kind of got the one, and we were on our heels a little bit and just sat back a little bit instead of maybe doing what we did the first two and a half periods. Sometimes, I think when there are leads, you feel like you got to just protect and defend and sit back. And we're doing a great job in the first two periods there and showing...maybe, just kind of sat back a little bit, and they get one there, and then it's kind of tough to stop the bleeding.

"This is a veteran group in here, so guys are confident, and I know, obviously, when you're up a couple of goals like that, and a couple of them end up in the back of your net, you may get a little bit nervous, but I think if we just kind been doing what we've been doing for the first two and a half periods last night -- we were on our toes -- you're gonna have to actually defend less."

The fingers have been pointed at Lambert for the failures this season, but the entire team bears the responsibility.

"I think we're all in it together. It's a combination for sure," Lambert said. "Our guys are committed. They're dialed in. They're a quality core group of guys. It's a little bit of everything, but we're in it together. It's up to me. It's on me. It's a combination of everything."

The Islanders have points in nine of their last 10 games, owning a record of 5-1-4. While blown leads have led to only 14 of a possible 20 points, there are surely positives. 

The power play has been a major bright spot. The penalty kill has turned things around. Depth scoring is up, while certain stars are coming through at a higher rate, which is why the Islanders currently occupy the final wild-card spot in the East. 

"You have to be very, very careful of the negatives getting in the way of the positives here," Lambert said. "We've had points in nine out of 10 games, and I get it. It's skewed because of the overtime or shootout losses. But you got to be very, very careful with the negativity outweighing the positives, and there's a lot of positives."

But the lack of success in the third period is why the Islanders aren't neck and neck with the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, and while the Islanders may be able to by right now due to the weaknesses from other teams in the Metro, continuing to rely on other teams isn't a sustainable way to compete in the National Hockey League.

You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York with co-host Sean Cuthbert live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season at twitch.tv/hockeynightny.