The New York Islanders wrapped up their road trip on Thursday night in Detroit, dropping the final three games of the trip. Overall, the Islanders only won one game, but earned four of 10 possible points. The final two losses came in Calgary and Detroit, where one-goal leads slipped away in the final period. Kyle Palmieri, like many of his teammates, voiced frustration after the loss on Thursday. As the Islanders return home, the main question is: what will they do about the lack of offense?

The struggle on the offensive side of the ice isn’t a new problem that the Islanders have struggled with this season. Goaltending has been solid for the Islanders as Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have combined for a 2.90 goals against average (GAA) and a .910 save percentage. With these statistics, the Islanders should be playing well and winning close games. However, the Islanders have lost eight one-goal games, while winning four of them.

The Washington Capitals are a great example of the same goalie situation working, because the Capitals can score goals. Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have combined for a 2.74 GAA and a .908 save percentage to help the Capitals to 13-5-1 and third in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders currently sit in fifth place of the division with a 7-8-1 record, but unlike the Capitals, they have scored only one goal or less in seven of their 20 games.

This past week, the New York Islanders fell to the Flames in a shootout 2-1. Though the Islanders scored first in the second period, the Flames tied the game on the power play after Varlamov was able to stop the initial 20 shots. Rasmus Andersson scored his fifth goal of the season and the Flames forced overtime 12 minutes later. Though the Islanders had chances in overtime to win the game, including Noah Dobson hitting the crossbar in the final seconds, the Flames outlasted them in the shootout to earn the extra point.

The Islanders headed back east with one more stop in Detroit to face the Red Wings. Entering the game with a 7-9-2 record, Detroit has been very sporadic with their wins in the early part of the season. The Red Wings were returning home from a west coast road trip themselves, falling in all three games on the west coast, but defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins on the first game of the trip. Early on, the Islanders seemed like they would finish their road trip on a high note.

Scoring five minutes into the game, Simon Holmstrom tallied his third goal of the season. Sorokin stopped 28 shots throughout the next 50 minutes of the game as neither team could get another puck into the back of the net. This caused the Islanders trouble, as with five minutes left, a broken stick led to the Red Wings tying the game off the stick of Jonatan Berggren.

The Islanders now were trying to hold on and earn another point at least by forcing overtime. However, the Red Wings and Lucas Raymond had other plans as a turnover in the final minute led to Raymond firing the puck past Sorokin from the circle for the 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later, the Red Wings earned the win with the Islanders finishing up the road trip with only one victory. After the game, Palmieri, one of the veterans on the team, spoke openly about the loss and the lack of scoring.

“We know we have to be better,” Palmieri said. “It’s about executing. [It was a] bad break on the broken stick, but even still, we had chances to put the game away. I had chances on my stick to give us some cushion, and didn’t get the job done.”

As the Islanders return home to host the St. Louis Blues Saturday night and then the Red Wings for a rematch on Monday, they look to find the offense to gain much-needed points. Both Palmieri and Patrick Roy know that these games are crucial as the weather starts to turn colder and snow begins to fall on Long Island.

Featured image courtesy of Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

Andrew Nowel

Andrew Nowel is a hockey nerd and has been following the game for many years. He grew up a Devils fan because of his Dad and also roots for the Penguins and has been rooting for them since he was in 4th grade. Andrew is currently in college studying Journalism and Business with a concentration in Sports Production and Broadcasting at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.