Lane Lambert does not believe the defensive breakdown that befell the Islanders in their disastrous 7-0 loss to the Penguins points to any bigger-picture issues.
Rather, he feels there were “fixable” problems limited to one very bad period of hockey — the second period Wednesday in which the Isles allowed six goals.
“It’s all fixable,” Lambert said. “We just weren’t hard enough in our own zone. We weren’t hard enough around our goaltender and we gave up the interior on the net-front far too easily. Very uncharacteristic of us. All fixable.”
The Islanders’ defense, which has been beset by injuries, has statistically taken a step in the wrong direction compared to a year ago.
Defense was their calling card in 2022-23, when they ranked fifth in the league in goals allowed; prior to Wednesday’s game they ranked 19th in the same category.
“I think it was just a very poorly played second period of hockey,” Lambert said. “Every time we turned around the puck was in our net. So we will look at it, fix it and move on.”
Players, however, were not quite as dismissive of the idea that bad habits have crept into their game lately.
“I don’t really know how to answer that,” Mat Barzal said. “I think we’re definitely gonna have to address something after tonight. Look at some tape and whatnot. After the second period, we put an emphasis on boxing out. They got a couple free looks close to Ilya [Sorokin] tonight in the crease that we can’t be giving up. We’ll clean that up.”
This was the worst loss the Islanders suffered since Feb. 25, 2017, when they lost 7-0 to the Blue Jackets.
The last time they allowed six goals in a period was March 21, 2000, also against the Penguins.
Kris Letang’s five assists in a period tied Dale Hawerchuk’s NHL record.
Oliver Wahlstrom came back into the lineup on Wednesday for Julien Gauthier, who was made a healthy scratch for the first time since Nov. 24 in Ottawa.
Wahlstrom, who has gone in and out of the lineup all year while he plays on a one-year contract, skated a quiet 7:48, the least ice time of any Islander.
As for the one-year deal, Wahlstrom said contract uncertainty is not entering into his thinking.
“It’s hockey, man,” he said. “You never know where you’re gonna be, you never know what’s gonna happen. You just gotta focus on the now. One-year contract, I’m not focused on that at all. I’m still young. Gotta keep working.”
Scott Mayfield (upper body) joined the team for morning skate on Wednesday but did not play against the Penguins.
There was no further update on his timetable, nor on the statuses of Ryan Pulock (lower body) and Adam Pelech (upper body).