Islanders Blanked 5-0 By Wild It has been said that the men are separated from the boys in the NHL second-half season. A year ago, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/players/william-dufour-bridgeport-islanders-new-york-islanders-the-hockey-news]emerged from a dangerous funk and squeezed into the playoffs. After last night's 5-0 implosion at Xcel Energy Center, the challenge for Lane Lambert's lads shapes up as no less severe than the 2022-23 gallop to the Finish Line. Maybe worse now that winning Winnipeg hosts the baffled Blue and Orange tonight. "We didn't do anything very well," said Anders Lee. "They were on top of us and we couldn't get to our game. Our effort needs to be elevated." As captain, Lee is one of the key individuals to stir that effort at a time when teams such as the Flyers and Penguins -- among others -- threaten to pull away from the Islanders. Meanwhile, other key players -- especially goalie Ilya Sorokin -- who in the past could turn a loss into a win either are worn out or just can't do it alone. After two periods, Ilya already had faced 32 shots. With Semyon Varlamov out, Ken Appleby replaced the starter. But where were the New York goals? None could be found in the city of St. Paul. "Sorokin did as good a job as he could," lamented Lambert, "and Appleby did as good a job as he could do. I didn't like our effort at all." The phrase "didn't like our effort" emerged enough times to make the high command seek an answer as to why -- at such a critical point in the season -- the team should falter so egregiously. These are not exhibition games. Effort should be the highest priority. "We have to be better defensively," noted Brock Nelson, but it's more than that. Both special teams failed. The isles allowed two power-play goals and a shorthanded. Overall the PP went oh-for-five. What's more, the Visitors made it easy for Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who only needed 21 saves for his 552nd career win. The W enabled the vet puck-stopper to pass Patrick Roy to stand alone in second place on the all-time career victory list. Let's face it, the Isles did just fine when defenseman Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield were sidelined. The replacements came through. The return of Adam and Scott figured to give the club a significant boost on the back line but this has not happened. How maestro Lou Lamoriello orchestrates this currently discordant symphony will be as arresting a scenario in the weeks ahead as the final result in April. This much is certain: Last year's losers -- Detroit and Philadelphia among others -- not only will not go away, both have shaped up as formidable foes in the stretch. Having visited Zach Parise's home state, Lou likely will have made up his mind as to whether the speedy and previously productive forward could energize an errant effort in any which way. For the moment, our coach seems as puzzled as anyone. Lambert: "I didn't think we were one hundred percent committed to playing the game the right way from the start, and it just kind of snowballed as we went along." It's noteworthy that captain Lee took a slashing penalty just 1:05 into the game, and Mats Zuccarello put the Wild ahead 66 seconds later. Egad, what a cad! The ex-Ranger put the game away before the three-minute mark. But even after Sorokin was pulled and replaced by Appleby to start the third, there was room for a comeback, but the reliever received no relief "I would have liked to have made the saves they needed to give them a chance to come back," Appleby said. But the coach rightly took Ken off the hook. "He did as good a job as he could do." In retrospect, the Islanders lost it with an ineffective middle period. "We couldn't generate anything in the second," added Nelson, "or disrupt their flow." The good news is that the Islanders are only two games into the season's second half. There's a ton of time to recover momentum and push into a playoff berth. They did it before and can do it again because the talent is there, if not the effort. Surely, tonight's challenge in Winnipeg will be as huge as can be in every which way because an S.O.S. is in order, pronto. That S.O.S. can be interpreted in several ways, such as: Save Our Ship. Stop Our Slide. Save Our Season. Or, forget the S.O.S. and try The Maven's two cents worth -- E.O.E. ENERGIZE OUR EFFORT!
