EAST MEADOW, NY -- Late in the game against the Utah Hockey Club, New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy elected to make a line swap. With the way Maxim Tsyplakov has been playing and Anthony Duclair's struggles to get to his game since returning from a long-term lower-body injury, Roy swapped th.

The Isles are 8-5-7 in games decided by a single goal including 4-5 in regulation. They are 2-6 in games decided in overtime and are 2-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-8 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

In the eight games after Duclair's return he has one goal and two assists, but has gone four games without a point.

The New York Islanders suffered their second straight loss, falling 5-3 at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

This summer, general manager Lou Lamoriello went out and signed speedster Anthony Ducliar, Roy's former player with the Quebec Remparts in juniors, to a four-year deal at $2.5 million annually. The plan was for Duclair to bring that speed and, potentially, the missing piece to a Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal 's line.

This is what it looks like when the season slips away in January. A disastrous second period, a total squandering of momentum, a team that played most of the night as though nobody was on the same page and a home crowd that sounded more disappointed than upset.

- With a goal and two assists on Sunday, Pulock recorded his first three-point game since Nov. 26 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Pulock is second among Isles d-men with 15 points (2G, 13A), second behind only Noah Dobson’s 20 points.

THROUGH GAMES OF TUESDAY, JAN. 21, 2025

Among the underlying symptoms has been an offense that itself has struggled to consistently sustain momentum over the course of games and, more broadly, the 2024-25 season. So, then, how do the Islanders treat the ailment in order to regain traction in the Eastern Conference playoff race while the NHL’s Mar. 7 trade deadline looms overhead?

They played connected, fast hockey in a matchup of last place teams to snap a two-game losing streak. Before the game, the team inducted Brent Sutter into its Hall of Fame.

The New York Islanders (18-20-7) snapped their two-game skid with a 4-1 win over the lowly San Jose Sharks (14-28-6) on Saturday night. The Islanders fueled their win with a strong second period, scoring three goals.

The Philadelphia Flyers (20-20-6) took full advantage of a hapless New York Islanders (16-19-7) second period to surge to a 5-3 win in UBS Arena on Thursday night.