Islanders can’t expect to make playoffs after games like these

The New York Islanders cannot expect to make the playoffs after playing games like the one on Friday night at UBS Arena. The Isles dropped a must-win game against the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1, on the heels of another weak offensive performance.

The Isles fell into a 3-0 hole nearly three minutes into the third period. And while JG Pageau got the Isles on the board with his 16th of the season, the goal wasn’t enough to close the gap.

Travis Sanheim drove the dagger home, scoring midway through the third period to ice the win for the Flyers. Despite three brilliant plays by Matthew Schaefer to block certain empty-net goals, the Islanders just couldn’t come back.

Instead of opening up a five-point lead on the Flyers, Philly is within striking distance of the Isles. The three-point gap entering the contest shrank to one. And now, the Isles have four teams with 88 points apiece breathing down their necks.

The Islanders just can’t afford any more performances like Friday night’s. All the Isles had to do was win and pretty much bury the Flyers. Unfortunately, the offense, which had just two shots on goal in the first period, chose one heck of a night to take a break. This game was one in which the stars had to come out in full force.

Yes, the Isles ended up outshooting the Flyers 22-21. But the early deficit was just too much for the Islanders to overcome.

Vladar outduels Sorokin in Islanders loss

If the anemic offense wasn’t bad enough, the goaltending just wasn’t there. Ilya Sorokin found himself of the short end of the stick, as he got outdueled by Flyers’ goalie Dan Vladar. The Flyers' netminder was the story behind Philly’s big win.

Vladar was huge for the Flyers. He made several key saves in the second period to keep the game out of the Islanders’ reach.

Meanwhile, Ilya Sorokin had a subpar outing, surrendering four goals. While it’s easy to blame Sorokin for the L, it was the Isles’ dreadful play in the first that opened up the quick two-goal deficit.

A good example came on Owen Tippett’s goal. An awful turnover by Ryan Pulock at the Flyers’ blue line allowed a two-on-one that ended up in the back of the net. Again, you might say that Sorokin ought to have bailed out his team. But that’s beside the point.

As for Alex Bump’s goal, well, it depends on how you look at it. On the one hand, the shot was a laser beam that hit the top corner of the short side. But from another perspective, that was a shot that Sorokin should have stopped.

Either way, the mess in front of the net was enough to distract Sorokin from the shot. Kudos to Bump for the wicked blast. But those soft goals were pretty much what doomed the Isles on Friday night.

The pressure is now on the Isles to turn things around in a hurry. They’ll face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night in another must-win game. A victory would most assuredly keep the Isles in a playoff spot.

Another loss, however, could doom the Isles to another playoff miss.