UNIONDALE, N.Y.—Ryan Smyth’s brief stint on Long Island began with tears and ended after a quick playoff appearance failed to give him enough reasons to stay.
The Colorado Avalanche forward returned to Nassau Coliseum on Monday night for the first time since spurning the Islanders’ efforts to keep him two years ago, and felt the wrath of the jilted fans, who booed him all night.
He responded with two goals, but it wasn’t enough for his sliding team that lost 4-2 to the Islanders.
“There are only a few guys that were around when I was here,” Smyth said of the Islanders, who own the NHL’s worst record. “They’re young. They are trying to fight for their jobs, for their career to establish themselves as a full-time player. You saw their work ethic.”
A season-high, six-game road trip began as a chance for the Avalanche to get back into the Western Conference playoff race, but five straight losses left them at the bottom of the standings and wondering how things went so wrong.
“We just haven’t played well enough, haven’t played smart enough, haven’t had good starts,” Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. “We make mistakes at this time of year that we shouldn’t make, and when we do make them they end up in the net.”
The trip started with promise, a solid 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals—a club with serious Stanley Cup aspirations. But the Avalanche (28-35-1) lost the rest and were outscored 14-3 in consecutive losses to New Jersey and New York’s Rangers and Islanders.
“We just got outworked,” said Smyth, who has 23 goals this season. “That’s one thing we can control, our work ethic on a nightly basis.”
There is no talk of the postseason around the Islanders. They are just looking to get as much as they can from teams in the playoff hunt that might be interested in their veteran players before the NHL trade deadline on Wednesday.
New York already sent forward Mike Comrie and defenseman Chris Campoli to Ottawa last week, and captain Bill Guerin hasn’t played the past two games as he waits for an inevitable deal.
A trade was expected over the weekend after Guerin was pulled from the lineup Saturday before New York played Buffalo, but nothing materialized. He is still expected to be gone before the Islanders host the Rangers on Thursday, but his club has won both games without Guerin.
“That’s what you have to do when you lose your captain like that,” said forward Jon Sim, who had three assists Monday. “Billy is a good guy. If he is going to get traded, he is going to get traded. It’s going to have to be like this for the rest of the year. Guys are jelling together, and we’ve had a couple of good games.”
There was a time two years ago when the Islanders had visions of Smyth being their captain and the face of the franchise for many years. General manager Garth Snow made a bold move in the minutes before the 2007 deadline to pry him from the Edmonton Oilers, the only NHL team Smyth had known but one that failed to meet his contract demands.
His shocking departure from Edmonton brought tears and gave him the tabloid label of “Cryin’ Ryan” when he joined the Islanders for their playoff push. They made it on the last day of the season, but were eliminated in the first round.
The best efforts of Snow and team owner Charles Wang weren’t enough to get him to stay. More comfortable with the Western Conference style, Smyth signed a lucrative deal with the Avalanche.
“We made that decision and there are no regrets,” Smyth said. “We had these guys in mind right to the end, but we just felt it was better for my type of play out west.”
The best the Avalanche had to offer Monday wasn’t nearly good enough.
Emergency call-up Jesse Joensuu scored his first goal in his first NHL game for the Islanders. Joensuu played for the fourth time in four nights, after a busy AHL weekend, and got the word he was heading to the majors just eight hours before the puck dropped.
“I can’t really describe it,” Joensuu said. “Hearing today that I’m going to play and then scoring a goal, it’s a little bit too much.”
Joensuu smacked in a loose puck from in front during New York’s two-goal second period. The Islanders got offense from another unexpected source as defenseman Bruno Gervais scored for the first time in 161 games—dating to April 18, 2006.
Dean McAmmond, playing his fifth game with the Islanders since being acquired from Ottawa, scored his second goal since his arrival. Jeff Tambellini snapped a 14-game goal drought in the only game on the NHL schedule.
Smyth, who heard boos every time he touched the puck, got the Avalanche into a 1-1 tie 33 seconds into the middle period with a power-play goal, and then brought Colorado within 3-2 at 1:02 of the third.
“They are loyal to their team and that’s what happens when a player gets traded in a transition stage,” Smyth said.
