This is what it’s coming to for the Islanders: They were trying to draw positives from a 5-1 loss, at home, to another cellar-dweller.
Joey MacDonald, who took the blame for the defeat, said the team “played pretty well” after a tough night in goal, his 16th straight between the pipes.
Scott Gordon said there were “not too many guys he can be critical of” and praised the team’s effort.
Blake Comeau, just recalled from Bridgeport and who did play well, added, “a few lucky bounces and a couple of goals go in and it’s a different game.”
The reality is, however, the Isles, in desperate need of a win before heading out on a four-game road trip that starts tomorrow in Toronto, lost to an Atlanta squad that had lost five in a row and came in with the worst record in the league.
Andy Sutton had a different take, as the Isles sit just two points ahead of Tampa Bay for last place in the Eastern Conference.
Despite all the possible silver linings he could have drawn, like the fact that the Isles did outshoot the Thrashers 29-17 and had plenty of chances to score, Sutton said, “Unfortunately, the team with the most goals at the end wins. You could say we did some things well, but we lost 5-1.”
The Isles gave up five straight last night after Bill Guerin gave them a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 51 seconds into the match.
“Regardless of how well we played, sometimes you play real well and you lose,” Sutton said. “That’s neither here nor there. A loss is a loss.”
Sutton played a part in the defeat, taking three penalties.
Now the Islanders, who had crept back into playoff contention with a recent stretch in which they won five of six, have just as quickly slipped back toward the bottom of the conference.
MacDonald, who made only 12 saves, was particularly hard on himself.
“I didn’t make the saves when I needed to,” said MacDonald, who played well during their successful stretch. “I kind of let them down.”
He gave up the game-winner to Ilya Kovalchuk at 10:04 in the second, and though the Isles hit a pair of posts later on, they never got back into the match.
“We needed to be able to change the course of the game and we couldn’t,” Sutton said.
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Prior to the game, the Isles sent Jeff Tambellini to Bridgeport for a two-week conditioning stint. Tambellini hasn’t scored a goal this season. Comeau had four goals and 15 assists in 19 games at Bridgeport.
Thrashers 5 Islanders 1