WASHINGTON — The parade of four-point games for the Islanders leading into the Olympic break started with a thud.
The Islanders had new lines and new power play units here in Washington, but they produced the same disappearing forecheck and tailed off after the first period just like two nights earlier on Long Island.
The result was a 4-1 defeat to the Capitals, who moved within two points of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division as a result.
Over 56 games, themes have emerged on nights where the Islanders don’t have it going, and they hit nearly all of them on Monday.
Too many one-and-done chances off the rush and too little time holding the puck in the offensive zone.
Nothing on the power play.
A couple messy plays around the front of the net.
It’s familiar by now, though it’s more than a little alarming to see it happen two games in a row.
Tuesday’s home match against the Penguins, who sit directly above the Islanders in the standings, feels particularly important now.
The Islanders can only afford so much slippage before Friday, when the three-week Olympic break begins and the NHL gets a chance to take a deep breath.
The Islanders had tossed away a 1-0 lead in the second period of this one, but with the score sitting at 2-1 Washington entering the third, things were far from over.
After the Islanders killed off two consecutive penalties, it looked like they might even have a chance to seize some momentum.
Instead, the Caps made it 3-1 after Nic Dowd threw a puck at the crease, which pinged off Tony DeAngelo before finding the back of the net at 8:48 of the period.
The Islanders did eventually have a semblance of a push, but it didn’t come until Patrick Roy emptied his net with over five minutes to go.
By then, it was too little and too late — and John Carlson’s empty-netter extended Washington’s lead to 4-1 before the Isles could make a game of it.
Just like against the Predators on Saturday, the Islanders’ best moments of the game came at the start.
That was when they were most active below the hashes, holding pucks in the zone and creating havoc.
It paid off at 16:38 of the first when Tom Wilson’s pass from the corner went straight to Mat Barzal’s stick, and Barzal promptly deposited the gift of a turnover into the Washington net.
The Capitals’ frustration didn’t last long though.
Wilson fed Martin Fehervarhy for the 1-1 goal 5:29 into the second with Aliaksei Protas screening, and just 31 seconds later, old friend Anthony Beauvillier took advantage of what looked like a complete breakdown around the net to stuff the puck in at the right post for a Washington lead.
Again and again, coach Patrick Roy keeps changing the lines and again and again, the Islanders’ best trio is the only one staying intact: the fourth line of Marc Gatcomb, Casey Cizikas and Kyle MacLean.
The revamped top six that featured Mat Barzal and Ondrej Palat on Bo Horvat’s wings with Jonathan Drouin centering Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom had its moments.
Horvat, in particular, accounted for a handful of chances on the rush, but continued to be snakebit since returning from injury.
For the Islanders, though, the same old problems aren’t going away.
On a nightly basis, it is more a question of whether they can work around them than whether they can solve them.
If that doesn’t change soon, the Islanders won’t like the result.