VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Lane Lambert said before Wednesday’s game that his team has played good hockey, save for small pockets in which they have fallen apart.

The problem with that is it is a lot like saying it won’t rain, unless it does.

And later in the evening, after the Islanders opened up a lead on the Canucks, it poured down on them.

In what has become the story of the season so far, the Islanders yet again blew a lead and lost to Vancouver, 4-3 in overtime, extending their losing streak to six games after Quinn Hughes’ game-winner.

And once again, the collapse came in the third period, as the Islanders entered the last 20 minutes hanging onto a 3-2 lead.

During a delayed penalty for a Noah Dobson slashing, Jean-Gabriel Pageau was called for tripping to set up a Vancouver five-on-three for two minutes.

The Islanders nearly killed it off, but with just 15 seconds to go, Filip Hronek’s one-timer tied the game at three.

And the Islanders, who have scored just once in the third period since the calendar flipped to November, were not about to snap that streak with Thatcher Demko in the opposing net.

The Islanders got the loser point, extending the game to overtime after they spent much of the back end of the third threatening Demko to no avail.

But for the fourth time this season, they fell short in the extra period — and for the second of those times, they lost a game despite Ilya Sorokin pitching a shutout at five-on-five.

In overtime, Hughes got behind the defense and easily finished the chance past Sorokin.

That capitulation was set up by the faltering penalty kill in the second period, as the Islanders allowed power-play goals to J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser — and counted themselves lucky that Andrei Kuzmenko fanned on a shot that would have made it three after Anders Lee took the Islanders’ third penalty of the period.

A pair of early power-play goals, however, had gotten the Islanders out front, with Pierre Engvall and Brock Nelson taking advantage of consecutive penalties by Ian Cole to send the teams into the first intermission tied at one.

The moment that marked the first period, though, came during the first TV timeout when the Canucks honored Bo Horvat with a tribute video. Horvat was visibly emotional, seeming to get choked up during the video as the crowd — which booed him early in the game — cheered.

“It’s gonna be an emotional night,” Horvat said pregame. “I’m excited for it, though. I’m excited to get the first couple shifts out of the way and get going from there. But it’s gonna be a fun night.”

Horvat would get on the board in the second period, finishing a one-timer from Mat Barzal to put the Islanders ahead 3-1 and looking nothing short of delighted in doing so.

The emotion by the end of the game, though, was frustration.

The Islanders, losers of seven of their last eight, have publicly maintained faith. But at two games under .500, it is vital that they find some momentum before they fly home on Sunday.

Right now, they are a team whose resilience has been replaced by rolling over.

Every third period they seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The penalty kill has lost its way. Mistakes seem to multiply.

Two seasons ago, an 11-game losing streak derailed the season by early December.

Things are not at that level of disaster yet.

But the Islanders need to find a way to stop the sky from falling.