NHL

Islanders fall to Blackhawks in first regulation loss

CHICAGO — The peaks are getting higher, and the dells are getting deeper, and that’s no way to go through the grind of a long season.

Soon enough, if the inconsistency continues, the Islanders will find themselves far away from their hopeful destination of a second consecutive postseason berth.

But for now, that’s far off.

For now, what is most concerning is Friday night’s 3-2 loss to the Blackhawks at the United Center, where, much like Tuesday’s 6-1 win over the Coyotes, the score does not indicate how the game went. That’s because the Islanders spent almost the whole game against the defending Stanley Cup champions getting outworked, outplayed, and outclassed.

“Our execution level was down and we had some passengers tonight,” said coach Jack Capuano, who got a solid performance from backup goalie Kevin Poulin, who made 25 saves in his first start of the season, yet whose night was spoiled when Michal Handzus slapped in a rebound 6:45 into the second period — a goal that held up as the game-winner.

“I think it’s frustrating when your goaltender plays that well and gives you a chance to win,” Capuano said. “We played way too fancy tonight, and we turned the puck over.”

Capuano showed a good bit of emotion after the game, griping about his team’s effort.

“A few guys could probably learn from watching a game,” he said. “To me, it’s about work ethic and battle level.”

That has been the coach’s mantra since taking over three and half years ago, the focus on a blue-collar mentality that at times may take a back seat to all of the talent on his team. Yet a good way to gauge the effort on Friday would be on the stat sheet, which shows the Islanders were outshot 28-19, and more gallingly, out-attempted 69-40.

“We didn’t win the wall battles,” Capuano said, “and when we did win a wall battle, we threw it to the middle of the ice. When you mismanage the puck against that team, when you don’t make them play a 200-foot game, you’re going to get hemmed in and have trouble.”

It was a quick deficit for the Islanders, who were down 2-0 just 16 minutes in after rookie Joakim Nordstrom scored his first career goal and captain Jonathan Toews scored his second of the season on a one-timer off the backboards.

Yet, the Islanders showed their quick-strike ability in a flurry, when Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo each scored a goal in the final minute of the first to tie it up, 2-2.

“We weren’t able to sustain,” said captain John Tavares, who set up Okposo’s goal with 4.8 seconds remaining. “We were sloppy and we have to be better with our puck decisions. We have to be hungrier.”

The lineup was only slightly different than the one that took five of the first six possible points this season, as rugged forward Cal Clutterbuck replaced rookie Brock Nelson on the third line. The defense was the same, although rookie Matt Donovan had a dreadful game, the worst of his four-game NHL career.

“He struggled,” Capuano said. “There’s no question.”

He wasn’t the only one, and when the team gets to Nashville for Saturday night’s game against the Predators, there could be some changes.

“I can handle some of the mistakes,” Capuano said, “but the battle level on a couple of the goals, just, just, we just weren’t strong enough.”