Isles Making A Habit of Losing By Five

Fresh off a 6-1 drubbing in Philadelphia last weekend, the Islanders headed down to Carolina looking to right their ship. Unfortunately, after a lackluster performance it seems as if they only succeeded in taking on more water.

The Carolina Hurricanes came into the tilt with the same number of points as the Islanders, but the teams looked vastly different on the ice. As every fan knows, the Islanders have been decimated by injuries, but there is simply no good reason to lose 7-2 to a middle-of-the-pack team like Carolina.

After a hot start to the season, the Islanders have lost five games in a row. And it has been a team effort. The goaltending, especially that of Rick DiPietro, has been poor. The defense has been poor. The scoring hasn't been nearly enough. General effort on the ice has looked lackadaisical. And so on.

In his post game television interview, a clearly frustrated Coach Scott Gordon said he has spoken with individual players about this malaise. He believes that lessons should have already been learned. The breaks out of the defensive zone and play away from the puck have been some of the sources of concern for him.

He did sound one tone of optimism, though, in that the Isles will have another chance to make things right tomorrow night (11/4) in Ottawa. He felt that was better than a long layoff with players stewing over the losing streak.

Let's hope things improve, because the season is still young and far from a lost cause. But the excitement that surrounded their hot start has all but vanished.

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News and notes:

- Michael Grabner and P.A. Parenteau were the scorers for the Islanders, each netting their third goals of the season.

- Rob Schremp returned from an injury that had sidelined him for the team's first 11 games. He saw 13:14 of ice time and was a -4 in the game.

- Goaltender Dwayne Roloson is expected to start the game in Ottawa. Roloson holds a 2.40 Goals Against Average this season, while Rick DiPietro has allowed 13 goals over his last two starts.

- Carolina center Jonathan Matsumoto scored the first two goals of his NHL career.