The Islanders can lament the good bounces that have gone dry or the penalties that weren’t called or any assortment of maladies that have undercut their playoff run.
But the reality of the situation is nobody placed them in this hole except themselves, and now it’s up to them to dig themselves out or their season is over.
For the second straight game, they out-played the Lightning. And for the second straight game, they blew a third-period lead and lost in overtime, this one coming on a Jason Garrison point shot at 1:34 of the extra frame, leading the Lightning to a 2-1 win in Game 4 of the second-round playoff series Friday night at Barclays Center.
No matter how they got there, the Islanders’ season is on the brink, down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series going into a must-win Game 5 on Sunday afternoon in Tampa.
“It can be a little frustrating, but that’s playoff hockey,” captain John Tavares said. “It’s a fine line, and you have to find a way to overcome those things and find ways to win.”
What the Islanders haven’t been able to do is put the Lightning away when they have a chance, and it’s coming back to bite them. They’ve watched as scoring opportunities have gone for naught, either buried in the chest or glove of goalie Ben Bishop — or the sound of the post still ringing from Tavares hitting it early in the first period.
And when the Lightning do get their looks, goalie Thomas Greiss hasn’t been able to make that big-time save when it’s needed most, not able to see around a screen as Garrison’s long shot got by his blocker.
“When you let them hang around, they found a way to come back,” forward Matt Martin said. “It’s tough, but we have to fight through it.”
What’s tough was watching Greiss get beat by Nikita Kucherov for the game-tying goal in the third period for the second straight game, this time coming with 7:49 gone by and Kucherov finding just the smallest of soft spots in the Isles’ coverage to let a one-timer go and beat Greiss’ blocker.
It took a lot to get to that point, with the Isles only having one goal up on the board. But when that big moment arrived, they just couldn’t make the play that was needed.
“I think it was our best game, so it’s disappointing,” said Greiss, who finished with 22 saves. “We just have to come back.”
With about 4:25 to go in regulation and the game tied, Islanders forward Kyle Okposo seemed to take a stick to the face from Garrison that went uncalled. But the Islanders already have gone down the road of complaining about non-calls, with coach Jack Capuano being riled into a fury after the 5-4 overtime loss in Game 3 that came after a big hit from Brian Boyle on Thomas Hickey that Capuano thought warranted a suspension.
As they tried to put that one in the background, Capuano tried not to harp too much on the presumed high-stick.
“Nothing you can do about it,” Capuano said. “Unfortunate they didn’t see it.”
Okposo had given the Islanders a 1-0 lead just 4:20 into the game on a slick-passing power-play goal. It set the sold-out crowd into a rollicking frenzy, the importance of this game hanging in the air. Soon thereafter, a four-minute power play after consecutive roughing minors on Ryan Callahan went for naught, and the 1-0 lead the Isles took into the second seemed not to be commensurate with how they were playing.
“I think for a lot of time in the last couple games, we’ve out-played them,” Okposo said. “But we have to find a way to win a game.”
As the Islanders won their first postseason series against the Panthers in the first round, they were often getting out-played and finding ways to win. Now the script has flipped, and they hope it doesn’t have the same ending. They’re the only ones who can change it.
“We have to win three a row,” Okposo said. “It has to start on Sunday.”