Mark Streit had a different perspective of the last two games from what he’s used to during the Islanders trip to Florida: from the bench.
The All-Star defenseman was out with a shoulder injury as the Isles dropped back-to-back games after winning a season-high four in a row, but he wasn’t particularly discouraged by what he saw.
“It’s always frustrating to lose,” Streit said. “But we played all right. We just couldn’t score.”
The Isles were, in fact, more competitive than they had been throughout much of the eight-game losing streak that preceded the All-Star break. Streit skated with the team for part of practice yesterday in Syosset and hopes to return tonight when they host the Kings at Nassau Coliseum (7:00, MSG+, WMJC).
“We’re not in the same situation where we were four or five weeks ago when we were really bad and didn’t have a chance to win,” Streit said. “We were out of it pretty fast in some of those games. Now we’re losing, but we’re playing better. We’re making progress.”
And for this time, this year, that’s something that hasn’t always been true.
While the defense continues to deal with injuries, Joe Callahan and Jack Hillen both played well after being called up from Bridgeport. Their play is not the reason the Isles went 0-2 in Florida.
“We’re just trying to fit in and contribute,” said Hillen, who has now played in 10 games for the Isles this season, splitting time with the Sound Tigers of the AHL. “We knew they were on a good stretch up here and you don’t want to be the one to cause that to end. I think we did all right.”