At least they're not Columbus. That's about the best that can be said after another rough week where the Islanders snapped a six-game winless streak but followed it up last night with a picked-apart road loss to the Bruins.
Ironically, while the media power rankings focus on the streak and offensive drought, our calculated power rankings actually flatter the Islanders, giving them a boost for beating the Capitals in regulation and going to OT with the Sharks and Penguins. (TSN, the only media ranking that uses a formula rather than gut, also has the Isles in the middle third.)
With the dust settled, the Islanders are last in the East but just two points and a game in hand behind the Bruins team that manhandled them last night. It doesn't feel like it in the aftermath of a fifth regulation loss in eight games, but it is still early and corrections can be made. The nearly absent young players like Kyle Okposo should reappear. Maybe a little patience, in light of microanalyzing every play, would do a fan good. At least for mental health's sake anyway.
Islanders/Hockey Links
A few fun links before the tables:
- Revisiting last night: The Skinny | Newsday with Capuano on passengers | NYIFYI on the defense outmatched by Boston | 7th Woman on the Lazy | IPB-Schultz | And if you're here you've probably already seen our recap and plus/minus
-
Prospect Park highlights Kirill Kabanov and John Persson's fine weeks. A little more on Persson at Buzzing the Net. And a little more from PP on Kabanov, who just might be exciting you about now.
- We prospect gaze for therapy and because it's a young man's game, dontcha know.
- From a fantasy perspective, Travis Hamonic is officially cold.
- Friedman's 30 Thoughts. (No Isles talk, but always good.)
- Laraque vs. Pang on Twitter is pretty funny.
-
Is Kessel's release a lot like Bossy's? My question: What if Mike Bossy had the flex sticks they use today to boomerang extra whip on each shot?
Media Power Rankings
Not much to gripe about here. It's all the straight dope:
| Outlet | Rank | Last Week | Their Commentary |
| CBSSports | 28 | 26 |
Ever since he allowed four goals in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay back on October 20, Al Montoya has not appeared in another game for the Islanders; Evgeni Nabokov and Rick DiPietro have seen the action in the crease. Unless there's something going on that we don't know about it (like an undisclosed injury), that seems kind of odd given how well Montaya has played over the past two seasons. |
|
THN (Proteau) |
23 | 23 |
John Tavares has four power play goals; rest of Isles have combined for three. |
|
ESPN (LeBrun) |
29 | 28 | Surprise win over the powerhouse Caps snaps a six-game winless streak. |
| CBC | - | 28 | [awaiting update] |
|
TSN (Cullen) |
21 | 17 | Snapped a six-game losing streak with Saturday's win over Washington, but still waiting on the likes of Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau to find the net for the first time this season. |
| Fox | 29 | 28 | Saturday’s 5-3 win over Washington marked just the third time this season the Isles have scored more than two goals in a game. |
| Average |
26 |
16 |
Everything is wrong. |
Real Power Rankings (through Sunday)
| W | L | OTL | Pts | Win Pct | PWR | ||
| 1 | Edmonton | 8 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 0.692 | 2273 |
| 2 | Washington | 9 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0.750 | 2210 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | 9 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 0.700 | 2202 |
| 4 | Dallas | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0.769 | 2013 |
| 5 | Phoenix | 7 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0.615 | 1985 |
| 6 | San Jose | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 0.625 | 1939 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 0.577 | 1917 |
| 8 | Chicago | 8 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 0.679 | 1905 |
| 9 | Minnesota | 7 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 0.654 | 1853 |
| 10 | NY Rangers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 0.654 | 1842 |
| 11 | Toronto | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 0.679 | 1773 |
| 12 | Philadelphia | 8 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 0.643 | 1742 |
| 13 | Nashville | 7 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0.615 | 1736 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay | 7 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 0.571 | 1732 |
| 15 | Florida | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 0.577 | 1721 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 0.542 | 1706 |
| 17 | Buffalo | 8 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0.615 | 1700 |
| 18 | NY Islanders | 4 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 0.455 | 1597 |
| 19 | Vancouver | 7 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 0.500 | 1590 |
| 20 | Anaheim | 5 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 0.464 | 1535 |
| 21 | Colorado | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 0.536 | 1491 |
| 22 | Calgary | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 0.500 | 1444 |
| 23 | Detroit | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 0.542 | 1434 |
| 24 | Carolina | 5 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 0.464 | 1398 |
| 25 | St. Louis | 6 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0.462 | 1372 |
| 26 | Ottawa | 7 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 0.500 | 1361 |
| 27 | Winnipeg | 5 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 0.429 | 1342 |
| 28 | Boston | 5 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0.417 | 1340 |
| 29 | Montreal | 5 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 0.462 | 1270 |
| 30 | Columbus | 2 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 0.179 | 494 |
Our weekly "real" power rankings are courtesy of our own ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles (who is the one you'll find tirelessly compiling FIG picks in the game thread), conceived and delivers these week after week. They reflect games through Sunday.
Explanation of how he does it is in the original post. If you have any questions about it, leave them in comments and he'll likely answer. For reference, last week's post is here.