Skidding Islanders cant climb out of early hole in loss to Bruins

Instead of playing well for the game’s first 45 minutes, the Islanders played well for merely the game’s middle 40 minutes. Funny enough, that did not help them turn things around. After dropping Wednesday’s game, 6-3, to the Bruins, the Islanders have now lost five of their past six and two of three on a homestand which looked like a chance to turn things around.So much for that. The Islanders did not come ready to play in this one, falling down 2-0 and forcing Patrick Roy to call timeout within the game’s first 6:31.

That jolted them into shape somewhat, but the damage was already done. Failing to play 60 minutes has been a hallmark of the club for over a year.What does it matter whether it’s the last 10 or the first 10 in which they turn off? The result, after all, is the same, but in this one, they went with both for good measure. Give the Islanders some credit for not quitting on this one after a lackluster start, but circling the wagons around a club that is 8-10-5 at Thanksgiving — which is to say it has won barely more than a third of its games at the traditional quarter mark of the season — would be a little much. Brock Nelson gave the Islanders the initiative heading into the final 20 minutes by lashing a puck past Joonas Korpisalo with just eight seconds left in the second, tying the game at three. But the Islanders could not make good on that momentum. Though they built some pressure at the start of the third period, they failed to turn it into a goal. The Bruins then took advantage, as Pavel Zacha deflected Andrew Peeke’s point shot in at the 10:48 mark of the period to make it 4-3. Mere minutes later, with the Islanders’ resolve evidently depleted, David Pastrnak fed Zacha in front to make it 5-3 — prompting a round of “Fire Lou,” as in Lamoriello, chants from the crowd. Nikita Zadorov put in an empty-netter with just over two minutes to go after coming out of the penalty box with the Islanders having gone scoreless...