VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Whether or not support from the dressing room will be, or should be, enough for Islanders coach Lane Lambert to keep his job should things keep going the way they are is one question.
But whether Lambert has that support is another entirely.
“I don’t think he’s lost the room,” Ryan Pulock told The Post on Wednesday before a brutal 4-3 overtime setback against the Canucks.
Neither do Pulock’s teammates, who all had to endure “Fire Lambert” chants at UBS Arena before departing for Western Canada.
“Lane’s not the one on the ice. It comes down to the guys on the ice,” Noah Dobson told The Post. “We have our jobs to do. He can’t go out there and do it for us. He gets us as prepared as any other team. It’s on the players to go out there and do our jobs and get the job done.
“From a standpoint of what the coaches control, they do everything they can with their details and preparation to get us ready. At some point, it’s on the onus of the players to go out and do our jobs.”
Right now, the players are not doing Lambert many favors with their play on the ice as their losing skid extended Wednesday to six in a row.
Neither has the organizational apparatus of the Islanders, which has done little to nothing to promote Lambert to fans since he was hired as the head coach — keeping with general manager Lou Lamoriello’s philosophy that no one is bigger than the team, but setting up a situation in which he has become an easy scapegoat.
That does not mean Lambert is blameless for what has happened this season, just as player support does not mean he will survive. Lamoriello did not poll the dressing room before ousting Barry Trotz, and it is not likely he would do so in advance of ousting Lambert.
But the Islanders see a different Lambert behind closed doors than is conveyed when he speaks with the media, and he is someone they like playing for.
“I would say that he’s definitely one of the most detailed people that I have played for,” Mat Barzal said. “The game plan he gives us before the game, he’s got extensive footage and tactics on the other team. That’s one thing that you guys might not see. And very down-to-earth, very friendly around the boys. I’ve always liked that kind of coach. Like a players’ coach.”
Barzal, who was moved to the wing to accommodate Bo Horvat and spent a couple third periods early this season on the third line, has as much reason as anyone in the room to withhold full-throated support from the head coach.
He instead gave it.
“He will take guys and want to work with guys to make them better,” Barzal said. “He’s been here for so long, we obviously know the way he goes about things and whatnot. I don’t think there’s a guy in here that has a bad word to say.
“Lane’s been great for me. I think he’s fair. He holds guys accountable. I like a coach that has some fire to him. Lane’s a coach that gets a little bit emotional at times, which I like.”
That emotion rarely comes out when he speaks publicly, but it is obvious in watching Lambert run practice. His level of detail, as well, is acclaimed in the dressing room.
“His ability to break down hockey games and find out what’s working, what’s not, for him to be so prepared for each game and watch that amount of video, it can’t be easy,” Horvat said. “I think just his preparation, his dedication to the team is very good.”
The Islanders have no interest in pointing fingers at the coach. They are pointing at themselves instead.
“I think as individuals in here, we need to step up in our details and our focus,” Pulock said. “Every second of the game. We do a lot of good things night in and night out and it’s little mistakes that are costing us. It’s up to us in this room as players to be individually more detailed as a group and as individuals. Finding that gear, [next] step so we can dig out of this, because we all believe we have a really good team in here. We just gotta go out there and do better.”
Five observations off the Canucks game
1️⃣ Lambert was right when he said the Islanders had more pushback in the third than they had shown lately. But the Islanders’ skill issues are at the fore in cases like this. They are struggling to finish chances at five-on-five or losing in overtime. And they are now 0-4 in overtime this season.
2️⃣ The bottom six threw up one of its worst games of the season. The third line was out-chanced 12-1 with an 11.11 Corsi For percentage, and the fourth was not much better with a 6-1 disadvantage and 23.08 CF%, per Natural Stat Trick.
3️⃣ Bottom-six depth is, in theory, a strength of this roster. So it is problematic that the Islanders have yet to find a consistent third line and that the fourth has not been great. It feels as if the eventual outcome will be Matt Martin becoming a healthy scratch more often, but it is less clear how long that will take to happen — especially with neither Oliver Wahlstrom nor Hudson Fasching seizing their chances.
4️⃣ A major reason the Islanders survived their power play being so bad last season was that their penalty kill canceled it out. After Wednesday, they have allowed nine power-play goals in six games.
5️⃣ Adam Pelech is back on the ice, but still seems to be fighting through an injury. He did not play much in Edmonton after getting a lot of first-period minutes, and in Vancouver, he did not affect the game in the way he usually does. The Islanders were hemmed in on a lot of his shifts — not necessarily a direct reflection on him, but far from a good sign. It’s not a coincidence that this losing stretch has come with Pelech out and then with him playing at, presumably, less than 100 percent.
Not on the road again
Wednesday’s game was the only one on this road trip where Islanders fans were treated to a match called by an in-person TV crew. TNT’s booth made the trip to Vancouver.
MSG, by contrast, did not see Edmonton, Seattle and Calgary as being worth the money and decided to call games from a Manhattan studio. Because Brendan Burke is on TNT’s crew, that created the rather absurd requirement for him to fly cross-continent to Vancouver for Wednesday’s game, then back home to call Thursday’s game in Seattle from New York.
The Islanders already have pulled their radio crew off most road games. Taking the TV crew off a long-haul trip creates the same detriment to fans and to the crew itself. Not only is the broadcast at an obvious disadvantage by not being on-site, but just like writers, broadcasters use the access on the road to create and build relationships that lead to better content. That is not just the on-camera talent, but also the directors and producers who are so vital to things looking good on air.
Hopefully this is just a one-off and does not happen again.