WINNIPEG, Manitoba — For the second time in three days, the Islanders performed pond hockey.
This time, it was on NHL ice, and didn’t make for fairly as much of a feel-good story.
“Anytime we play a hockey game and we need to score six to get two points, we need to be better defensively,” Anders Lee informed The Post following Tuesday’s messy 5-4 loss to the Jets at Canada Life Centre. “Get in some lanes, box some guys out, get rid of some pucks in front, snag a save.”
Winnipeg gamers Vladislav Namestnikov (7) and Nino Niederreiter (62) look on as the puck gets behind goaltender Ilya Sorokin for a second-period purpose during the Islanders’ 5-4 street loss to the Jets on Jan. 13, 2025. NHLI via Getty Images
The Islanders were at least relieved that Matthew Schaefer completed the sport after a pair of damage scares, the first prompted by the concussion spotter and the second after Schaefer took Luke Schenn’s shot off his proper leg.
That reduction, however, was blunted by the news after the sport that Schaefer still had to be examined by team docs before being fully cleared.
Regardless of the scenario with their celebrity rookie, Tuesday wasn’t anything like the Islanders’ finest. They were too extensive open, not arduous enough around the internet and boxed out of their own crease in the decisive moments by a Winnipeg club that had won just two of its previous 10 coming into the night time.
When the Islanders have struggled this yr, these causes have often been the widespread denominator. If basic supervisor Mathieu Darche opts to purchase between now and the commerce deadline, there’s his roadmap for what to look for. But Tuesday night time, there was no assist coming.
After going down 3-0 in the second, it regarded like the Islanders might work their approach out of the mess. Anthony Duclair, Emil Heineman and Kyle MacLean scored consecutive objectives to tie the sport at 3-3 in a span of 3:58, Heineman doing so via penalty shot, and on another night time, that momentum might have vaulted the Islanders into two factors.
On this one, not so.
Just as rapidly as the Islanders grabbed momentum, they lost it again. Dylan DeMelo’s shot from the high of the zone went through Nino Niederreiter’s display screen to put Winnipeg back up just 1:02 after MacLean had tied it. Coach Patrick Roy’s problem for goaltender interference on DeMelo’s purpose failed, and the Islanders coach cited Rule 69.3 afterward to argue that Niederreiter had impeded Ilya Sorokin.
Emil Heineman scores on a penalty shot against goalie Connor Hellebuyck during the second interval of the Islanders’ loss to the Jets. Terrence Lee-Imagn Images
“Both feet were in the crease and Ilya cannot move up,” Roy said. “We thought his blocker kind of interfered a little bit with their guy. That’s the reason why we challenged.”
For good measure, Adam Lowry boxed out Tony DeAngelo in the crease to tip in Neal Pionk’s shot with 20 seconds to go in the second to make it 5-3 going into the last intermission.
In the last 20 minutes, the Islanders did tighten issues up defensively far more than the free-flowing first 40. Unable to get any significant site visitors around Connor Hellebuyck’s crease, though, their try at a push fell flat.
Schaefer’s shot from the high of the zone made it 5-4 with 45 seconds left in regulation, but proved too little and too late.
Truth be informed, this was as sloppy a sport as the Islanders had performed all season. They bled two-on-ones, transitioned the puck poorly and most of all, gave more site visitors than the George Washington Bridge at rush hour.
“The fourth one, there was a point shot with a screen in front, the fifth one was the same thing. First one was a rebound in front of the net, we lost the battle,” Roy said. “So it’s more fundamentals than structure.”
Mathew Barzal was overwhelmed to Mark Scheifele’s rebound by Kyle Connor for the sport’s opening purpose. All Josh Morrissey had to do on Winnipeg’s second purpose was float it through the mess of our bodies with Adam Boqvist screening his own netminder after the Islanders failed to transition the puck.
And on Jonathan Toews’ 3-0 power-play purpose, no one was close to him at the crease.
New York Islanders’ Anders Lee (27) and Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk (4) battle for place in entrance of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during the third interval of their NHL hockey sport in Winnipeg, Tuesday Jan. 13, 2026. AP
“I think a couple times, our clears maybe bit us a bit, getting the puck past the blue line, get it out,” MacLean said. “Especially at the end of our shifts. Overall there’s a couple breakdowns, couple shots from the point that got through. We’ll clean that up for Edmonton.”
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