Islanders lacking in urgency in perturbing loss to Ducks

It might be time to worry about the Islanders.It’s just nine games out of 82 and the narrative can change on a dime.But losing 3-1 on home ice Tuesday night to a struggling Anaheim team, with another night of noticeably low attendance and the Islanders looking tired even as they racked up a shot-count advantage is an alarm bell if there ever were one.At 3-4-2, the Islanders are below NHL-.500 for the first time this season, the sort of numbers you would expect from, well, the Ducks.Not from a team with aspirations to make the playoffs and perhaps do something once there.Though they ran up favorable Corsi numbers, that belies a lack of intensity and urgency that was evident until too late in this one, and as early as warm-ups, when multiple players stood still as statues during line rushes.Whatever the Deserve-to-Win-O’Meter says, the Islanders looked flat and paid for it, with a pair of goals allowed on the penalty kill amplifying a four-on-five problem that has carried over from last season in full.It took until 5:29 of the third, a few seconds after a long five-on-three had ended, for the Islanders to finally find some offense, with Mathew Barzal putting to rest what had been a nightmarish game by converting a one-timer from the left circle.That cut what had been a 2-0 deficit in half and gave the Islanders some badly needed momentum, but it couldn’t negate the game’s first 40 minutes.The Islanders, from then on, had the kind of pressure that had been missing, but ran into a problem in the form of goalie Lukas Dostal, who turned in an excellent 41-save night and helped the Ducks do what the Islanders rarely can: Hang onto a lead.Frank Vatrano sealed it on an empty-net goal with just under a minute left.So, as much as the Islanders will feel they deserved more, they are going on the road losers of two consecutive games.Nobody can control for being without Anthony Duclair, but right now, one problem after another seems to be compounding on the Islanders.Wit...