Chris Botta to start this season asked readers to pick which teams we thought the Islanders were better than. I couldn't find any that were definites so I figured I'd throw out a bone for folks to chew on. Yeah, the start of this season has been brutal but I figured I'd give some persepective.

1) We were the worst team in the league last season.

2) Of the 9 teams we've played thus far six of them were playoff teams last season.

3) Of the 9 teams we've played thus far 2 of them were regular season conference champs and the other Cups Champs last season.

4) Three of the teams that were league elites last season (Bos, San Jose and Pitts) two of them we took to overtime.

5) Considering the quality of teams we've played to start the season we have six points in nine games.

Now, stepping back from the ledge a bit here, if I go back to when I first looked at the schedule I didn't think we'd have that many points after the first three weeks to start the season. I would have been shocked it we grabbed 4 pts out of this brutal schedule to start.

Yeah, blowing third period leads is never fun to watch. It's perhaps one of the most painful things a fan can endure in the regular season. Lets be honest with ourselves and really take a look at this....

It's really not that bad given that this team is still relying on youngsters. I didn't think we had a prayer walking into tonights game against Washington or even the games against Pittsburgh and Boston. Even to grab three points against those three teams is actually really good when you look at this Islanders squad.

Anyways, I'm not trying to sell anyone Kool-Aid or anything. Just trying to keep things in perspective. In regards to Botta's exercise, when I looked at our first nine games, I predicted about 4 points for this team right about now. Two of those four were from OT losses.

Just my two cents. Take it for it's worth.

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