New York Islanders throw in the towel in demolition by New York Rangers

The New York Islanders threw in the towel on their season on Thursday night in the 9-2 shellacking at the hands of the New York Rangers. The Islanders’ performance was akin to that of a beleaguered boxer caught in the ropes, hanging on for dear life as punches rain down.

Unfortunately for the Isles, they couldn’t even keep their guard up by the time the second half of the third period rolled around. It was evident that the Isles had quit on Patrick Roy, failing to show up for the final 20 minutes.

Things truly fell apart after Hudson Fasching scored to make the game 6-2. Instead of trying to finish the game strongly, the Isles crumbled, allowing three goals in the final ten minutes or so. Roy mercifully pulled Marcus Hogberg for about five minutes in the game. However, Tristan Lennox didn’t far much better, giving up a goal on two shots, prompting Roy to bring Hogberg back into the game.

Now, I get that the Isles were without their number-one goaltender. But the fact of the matter is that the team should have put a better effort in front of two AHL-caliber goalies. They didn’t, and the results were more than obvious.

So, where do the Islanders go from here?

I’d like to have an answer to that question. But it seems to me, I don’t know what others saw, but it appears that the New York Islanders gave up on Patrick Roy. In the postgame press conference, Roy took the blame for the outcome. While he defended his team's effort, he was accepted that the poor performance was on him.

New York Islanders won’t be seeing Ilya Sorokin for the rest of the season

The Islanders have four games remaining in the season. They play the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon, then the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, followed by two games next week against the Washington Capitals before finishing off the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Given how the Islanders really don’t have much to play for at this point, at least in the standings, it’s quite unlikely we’ll see Ilya Sorokin back in the crease. It’s still unclear what ailment prompted the Islanders to remove Sorokin from the lineup ahead of Thursday night’s game.

My guess is that Sorokin was fatigued. Patrick Roy rode him hard the entire second half of the season, including playing him on back-to-back nights. So, it seems that the workload just caught up to him.

If that’s the case, and under the current circumstances, there is no point in bringing Sorokin back this season. So, Marcus Hogberg and Tristan Lennox will get an extended audition down the final four games.

Hopefully, the team can rally and end the season on a positive note.