Another game, another shutout against the New York Islanders

The New York Islanders were shut out, again. This time, the Columbus Blue Jackets were the culprits, handing the Isles a 2-0 blanking. Well, if we don’t count the empty-netter, it was another 1-0 shutout loss.

The last time that happened this season, Alex Lyon and the Detroit Red Wings blanked the Isles in a game in which the Wings only got 11 shots on goal.

This time around, the Isles were shut out following another strong game. The Isles avoided costly mistakes and did not make silly plays. In fact, there were stretches of the game in which the Islanders controlled much of the play.

And yes, the Isles had their chances. There was a Maxim Tsyplakov breakaway opportunity in the first period. Tsyplakov split the defense but could not beat Elvis Merzlikins. Then, the Isles’ best chance came on a Mathew Barzal redirection in front of the net that Merzlikins somehow stopped.

We could get into the various opportunities the Isles had to win Wednesday night’s game. But they didn’t. The New York Islanders could not find the back of the net. That meant that Columbus only needed one shot to go it, which it did.

That was all she wrote.

The situation has gone from concerning to alarming. Wednesday night’s matchup marked the fourth time this season the Islanders have been shut out. The Isles rank dead last in goals for this season. Their power play is 28th.

That can’t go on if the Isles want to have a realistic shot at making the postseason.

The New York Islanders need to deploy natural goal-scorers

Let’s face reality for a second. The New York Islanders lack high-end goal-scorers. We’re talking about the types of players that have a natural instinct for finding pucks and getting tough, sometimes ugly, goals.

Of course, the Islanders have a core of highly talented players. Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal stand out. Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson are as good as they come. Tsyplakov has shown some good signs.

But none of these players are pure goal-scorers. They can be great setup guys. They can pass the puck and make great plays happen. But until the Isles get solid goal scorers, the kind that stand in front of the net or dig pucks out of corners and find open ice, the scoring problem won’t go away.

Patrick Roy has built a strong, defensive team. The Isles are currently 9th in the league with 2.90 goals per game. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov have held up their end of the bargain. The defense has been solid.

But the scoring is nowhere to be found. Unless the Isles deploy strong finishers, players who could go that extra step to get goals, the Isles will continue to struggle to score goals, eventually falling out of the playoff race sooner rather than later.