Fans Chant “Fire Lambert” As Islanders Reach New Low In Loss To Caps

 After the New York Islanders lost their third straight game on Thursday to the Boston Bruins, head coach Lane Lambert talked about how his team continues to dig themselves into holes.

Now, with their losing streak at four games following a 4-1 defeat to the Washington Capitals Saturday night at UBS Arena, the Islanders have hit rock bottom, dropping five of their last six contests.

Washington, an already aging team, was playing the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday with a goalie making just his second career NHL start. And yet, it was the Islanders who fell down and couldn’t get back up.

In the second period, Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov did all he could to save a goal. He dove back across his crease after giving up a sharp rebound with a pad stop. But despite Varlamov’s best efforts, Nic Dowd managed to clean up the loose puck, giving the Capitals a 2-1 lead.

Down by one, the Islanders still had a chance to fight back into the game, or at least they did until  Aliaksei Protas doubled Washington’s lead in the final minute of the second.

In goal, Varlamov made 24 of 27 saves for New York.

On the opposite end, Hunter Shepard held the Islanders to one goal in just the second start of his career.

As Shepard attempted to clear the puck from behind his own net, it instead found its way onto the waiting stick of Alexander Romanov after a series of awkward bounces. With a wide-open net, Romanov fired in his first goal of the season, with assists from Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat.

Romanov’s goal drew the Islanders even as the first period drew to a close. Earlier in the frame, Alexander Ovechkin flicked a snapshot from inside the left face-off dot that Varlamov couldn’t snag with the glove, putting the Capitals up 1-0.

Ovechkin also scored the empty-netter for Washington with three seconds to play in the third, locking in the final score.

The Islanders were certainly the more active team to start the game, as Washington was clearly still recovering from their battle with the New Jersey Devils 24 hours before. By night’s end, though, Lambert’s squad looked lifeless.

Luckily, they’d already dug themselves into their own grave. Just not one deep enough to muffle the chants from the UBS faithful.

“Fire Lambert.”