UNIONDALE, N.Y. _ Nothing went right for the Red Wings, and the score reflected that.
The New York Islanders jumped all over goaltender Jimmy Howard and a Red Wings team that didn't appear to be ready early, and it led the Islanders to an 8-2 victory Tuesday.
The eight goals allowed were a season-high, a collection of defensive misplays, fluky bounces, and bad breaks.
But ultimately, it was a dreadful evening, and one of the hardest hits was to the veteran Howard, who is going through a painfully difficult season.
Howard, the beleaguered Red Wings goalie, only stopped four of seven shots in the first period before being replaced by Calvin Pickard.
Now, Howard didn't get much help from a sloppy Wings team in front of him. But no matter, ultimately, as Howard lost his 17th decision in 19 games (2-16-1).
Filip Hronek and Givani Smith (first NHL goal) scored for the Wings.
The Wings, who've lost two consecutive games after a modest two-game win streak, have now lost two straight with games at home against Pittsburgh and Florida this weekend.
The Wings are an NHL-worst 12-32-3.
Brock Nelson had two goals while Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Noah Dobson, Anthony Beauvillier and Leo Komarov also scored for the Islanders (28-13-4).
The main topic coming out of this latest rout, though, will be what the Wings will do with Howard going forward.
The veteran talked after Monday's practice about working hard and his confidence in overcoming this season-long slump, given his ability to fight through previous slumps in his career.
But in a results-oriented business, how much longer can the Wings keep putting Howard on the ice?
Coach Jeff Blashill talked Monday about how Howard's body language looked good, despite the struggles this season.
"The practice before the last game he looked really, really good, so that, to me, is a good sign," Blashill said. "He's working towards getting himself a really good game and that's really important. When I see him in games, his body language looks good.
"When goalies tend to struggle sometimes they look small. At the end of the day it's the most results-oriented position there is in sports. You either stop it or you don't. He's just got to keep working and I know he will, and our job is to make sure we play as good a defense in front of him as we can."
That wasn't always the case Tuesday against the Islanders.
Eberle scored the game's first goal at 3:23, taking a pass from Mathew Barzal just inside the zone, getting behind the Wings' defense, and sliding a backhander through Howard.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the Islanders to get the next one.
The Islanders put together another strong shift, and this time it was Bailey knocking in his 9th goal with Howard sprawling after making an initial stop on Tom Kuhnhackl in tight.
Howard left after the Islanders' third goal, at 7:56 of the first period, Nelson's first of two goals.
Mike Green went to play the puck behind the net and fell. The Islanders got possession of the puck, Beauvillier got it behind the net and fed Nelson alone in front to make it 3-0.
Hronek's goal made it 3-1 at 11:45, his ninth goal, floating a shot from the point that eluded goaltender Thomas Greiss.
But whatever hopes the Wings had of any comeback were quickly dashed when Lee scored his 14th goal at 18:30, converting a pass from Barzal from near the hash marks, past Pickard.
From there, the remaining 40 minutes were a slog to the final buzzer.
