BOSTON — The gap between the Islanders and the best of the Eastern Conference remains demonstrably high — and the demonstration in question occurred on Thursday evening at TD Garden.
The Islanders left Boston with just as many questions as when they got here, along with the extra baggage of a 5-2 loss to the Bruins, their fourth in five games, to continue a tailspin that is in need of correction and fast.
Charlie Coyle’s power-play goal 6:06 into the second period put Boston ahead entering the third, but the results in the last 20 minutes were not so different from when playing from behind as they had been when holding a lead.
It looked like things may go differently after Simon Holmstrom scored shorthanded to tie the game just 10 seconds into a Boston power play.
But David Pastrnak quickly rectified that with a left-circle shot that squirted through Ilya Sorokin’s pads and gave Boston a 3-2 lead 3:31 into the third.
Coyle added another Boston goal at 9:26 of the period, getting to the backdoor to finish James van Riemsdyk’s feed as Samuel Bolduc was caught out.
More telling, though, was that for the second time in as many five-on-five goals against, the Islanders’ second line — with Pierre Engvall a healthy scratch — was on the ice.
At five-on-five, that was the story of the game.
With Anders Lee skating in Engvall’s place, the line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri did not have anywhere near the same speed or spark.
Engvall, whose speed is key to the line’s ability to transition, was badly missed and the Bruins’ line of Coyle, Trent Frederic and James van Riemsdyk dominated the game, as Coyle sealed his first career hat trick with a late empty-net goal.
This was the first time this season that coach Lane Lambert has attempted to send a message by benching a veteran.
But on Thursday, the message became that Engvall’s services are too important to waste in the press box.
And whether the intended effect takes hold in the long run or not, there is no doubt that benching Engvall badly hurt the Islanders’ chances of getting two points.
It doesn’t help, either, that Sorokin has lost five of his last six starts and was less than invincible on Thursday, stopping just 29 of 33 shots.
Just 3:18 after Frederic put the Bruins ahead with a goal from the high slot, he opened the door to the Islanders tying the game by getting sent off for cross-checking.
Brock Nelson deposited a rebound off Noah Dobson’s initial shot, allowing the Islanders to escape to the first intermission tied at one.
The slew of issues underpinning the Islanders’ game seemed a little bit more manageable in this game, which is to say they did not spend such a heinous amount of time in their own zone, at least after struggling through the opening minutes.
But ironing out the problems is proving not to be a simple fix and taking steps forward is not the same as ameliorating things altogether.
Again on Thursday the Islanders had too many one-and-done chances and left potential grade-A looks on the table in failing to get shots off.
Still there are too few pucks deep, too little forechecking and as a result not enough sustained pressure. Going 200 feet against the Islanders is not as hard as it should be, and that remains no small issue.
No matter who is in the lineup, that cannot continue.
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