Inside the Islanders' Locker Room: Tackling Blown Third-Period Leads

The Islanders broke their habit for a game when they held a third-period lead in a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

ELMONT, NY -- On Saturday night, the New York Islanders put a trend on hold, resulting in a 3-0 shutout victory against the Buffalo Sabres. 

Their third-period woes this season have proved incredibly costly and are the sole reason the Islanders aren't in a playoff spot at this juncture. They are currently three points out of a wild-card spot. 

Through 25 games this season, New York has blown nine third-period leads, going 2-3-4 in those games. 

Of those nine, six of those blown leads came in the month of November, with five of those six coming over the last eight games. 

The locker room after the game became a scene out of the movie Groundhog Day, where we'd ask the same questions and get the same answers that enough was enough, and they had to just find a way to end the trend. 

After Saturday's winning result, we had the chance to chat with forward Hudson Fasching. Given that he's only played in two games since Nov. 5, he had a unique view of the whole blowing leads ordeal.

His first game back in the lineup was this past Friday, where the Islanders blew a 4-2 third-period lead in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals. 

“For a while there, we were just like, ‘It's just like bad bounces.'  That’s what it felt like. Even watching the games, I'm like, ‘They're not even doing anything wrong.’ It's just like, how can that possibly keep happening, and then eventually it just happens," a puzzled Fasching said. "Now it just creates its own narrative, and so, I think at that point we were obviously aware of it, and then we tried to address. 

"For a while, we were just like, ‘Oh, it's just gonna go away, bad bounces,’ and then eventually you have to address it since it just keeps happening. I think we all have a good head about it. I think we've exercised our demons a little bit, and hopefully, going forward, we can use this win as a little bit of a springboard.”

How does a team address an issue where there's not just one thing leading to the failures?

“Just talk about it. We wouldn't ignore it, but there wasn't anything we could do about it other than treat it like the bad bounces that they were," Fasching said. "So we weren't really even talking about it for a while. So I think eventually, we got to talking about what we think is going on here. 

"We put some serious effort into it. The thing for us is not to sit back. We wanted to make sure we're punching forward and trying to go get them. Don’t just sit on our heels and wait to get scored on."

The "sitting back" was something the team did under former head coach Lane Lambert and, to an extent, Barry Trotz, although Trotz's team was incredibly comfortable doing so, given their structure and the success that came with that. 

But this current team under Patrick Roy seemed to be playing not to lose, not playing to win, and that mindset led to passive play. 

“We had a couple of team meetings about it. Guys talk about it in the locker room, ‘Hey, what do you think the problem is?’ Fasching said. "Everybody was just like, 'We don't know what the problem is.’ It seems like it's just that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and that's, unfortunately, the reality of hockey. I mean, that's why it's fun to watch. It's unpredictable, right, but sometimes it just doesn't go your way. It's unfortunate.

"So obviously, we did everything we could tonight to make sure that didn't happen. That was a big shutout, and I'm happy to do that for Sorokin, and he played incredible tonight, too.”

It's one thing to hold on to a lead. It's another to carry that confidence into the next game, which the Islanders have struggled with.

Through 25 games, the Islanders have won consecutive games only once this season. 

The last game in which the Islanders held a third-period lead was on Nov. 23, a 3-1 win against the St. Louis Blues.

That result came after the Islanders blew a third-period lead in three straight games, losing all three (0-2-1). 

In their next game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Islanders couldn't get away from their old ways. They blew a 2-1 third-period lead, allowing two goals in 2:33 in a 4-2 loss. 

So, the question is, when the Islanders head into Montreal to battle the Canadiens on Tuesday night at 7 PM ET, can they build on their win against Buffalo?