Meh. The Islanders talked with CJ Papa about the importance of finishing with a home record above .500 -- a desire we can all rally behind, I'm sure -- but today a superior, playoff-bound foe said "nicht nicht."
The Islanders had a very nice first period, outshooting the Flyers 15-5. But Martin Biron held them to just a 1-0 lead in that frame. By the end of the afternoon, Biron had gotten his bazillionth consecutive victory over the Islanders, after 30 saves (Yann Danis made 24 saves in a passable performance.
Stat of the Night: "Mitch Fritz, 1 shift, 0:24 TOI." Come on now, we're in Game 81 -- throw Fritz a bone! Joel Rechlicz got 8 shifts for a total of 4:21. That man -- now clean shaven (except for a soul patch) and considerably less crazy-looking -- is the future at fighter-forward.
Game Summary | Event Summary | AP Recap
So this was the Islanders' 46th regulation loss of the season. Add 4 more 4-on-4 OT losses, and you have 50. Add five more SO losses (I wouldn't), and you'd get to 55 "losses." Anyway you slice it, that's a lot of end-of-night disappointment -- although many, many losses this season have gone like this one: Decent performance, signs of life, ultimately not there. Bring on Tavares.
Their home record fell to (loser-point-adjusted quasi-) .500, at 17-17-6. A win tomorrow against the Bruins and they still finish above .500 at home, which is a pretty nice sign for their fans considering this year's misery. If you're going to stink, at least do most of your stinking on the road, so that home games are fun to attend.
Weird Moment of the Day: Brendan Witt's skate blade came completely out on him after laying a hip check. Similar snafus have happened to Doug Weight twice this year. Are skates getting as ridiculously high-cost, high-reward, crappy-construction as the stupid one-piece sticks? Just wondering...
That's about it. Happy Saturday, Happy Tavares to you.