Islanders start fast, then are outclassed by Mammoth

The Islanders can only hope the rest of 2026 goes way better. And their resolution must be to score more goals.

Sloppy, uninspired play in the final 50 minutes resulted in a 7-2 loss to Utah in a New Year’s Day matinee at sold-out UBS Arena. So the Islanders reached the season’s midpoint with their largest margin of defeat as they failed to score more than two goals for the eighth straight game.

“I thought it was a good start in the first period. We were outshooting them 11-nothing at one point,” rookie center Cal Ritchie said. “It kind of just fell apart.”

“It’s probably more the details of the game,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We lost one-on-one battles where we should have been better in those areas. We took [two] offensive-zone penalties. Too many men.”

But mainly it’s about a lack of scoring for the Islanders (22-15-4), who again might be without leading scorer Bo Horvat. The newly named Olympian for Team Canada limped to the dressing room at 8:00 of the third period after appearing to hurt his left leg. Horvat (21 goals, 12 assists in 36 games) was playing his fourth game since returning from a five-game absence because of an injured left leg/ankle.

Roy said Horvat would be examined by team doctors on Friday.

“It’s really deflating for the group,” said Ritchie, who tied it at 1-1 off the rush at 2:35 of the second period. “But we’ve got to find a way to still battle without him. He’s a great player for us. After he leaves, we’ve got to show up better.”

Goalie David Rittich, making his sixth straight start with Ilya Sorokin (injured reserve/lower body) still unavailable, was pulled at 5:41 of the third period after allowing five goals on 14 shots.

Dylan Guenther opened the scoring 36 seconds into the second period on the Mammoth’s first five-on-five shot, made it 2-1 at 10:20 of the second period and completed his hat trick at 13:54 of the third period against Marcus Hogberg. Nick Schmaltz scored twice and Karel Vejmelka, activated off injured reserve before the game, made 19 saves for Utah (19-19-3).

Matthew Schaefer closed the gap to 5-2 at 11:48 of the third period with a power-play goal as the Islanders went 1-for-5 with the man advantage. But they failed on a four-minute chance bridging the second and third periods while still within two goals.

Utah was 2-for-5 on the power play.

“We’ve got to find a way to score goals,” defenseman Scott Mayfield said. “Special teams has to be better. When you only have two goals a game, it’s pretty tough to win. I like some of the chances we get. It’s the hunger around the net or making sure we find the lanes. Sometimes we’re definitely passing up shots, too.”

Roy reconfigured his lines again, ending Mathew Barzal and Horvat’s reunion as linemates at one game. This time Barzal centered Jean-Gabriel Pageau, himself a natural center, and Anders Lee. Horvat skated with Emil Heineman and Jonathan Drouin, whose third-period assist was only his third point — all assists — in 18 games.

The Islanders could not translate a quick start into an early lead while taking the game’s first 11 shots. Utah then held the Islanders without a shot for the final 9:30 of the first period.

“It played a role in this game,” Roy said. “[Scoring] probably would help us get some momentum out of it. I thought it did the opposite.”

Notes & quotes: Lee logged a season-low 11:58 . . . Barzal, Pageau, DeAngelo and defenseman Adam Pelech were all minus-3 . . . Marshall Warren’s second-period secondary assist marked the first point for the Laurel Hollow defenseman since he had two assists in his NHL debut on Oct. 25 . . . Defenseman Adam Boqvist and forwards Anthony Duclair and Marc Gatcomb were the healthy scratches.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.