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In the face of the Isles falling out of favor with the opinion polls - not to mention their fall in the actual standings - it would be really easy to point to the previous LHH Power Rankings, and say "told ya so!"
But that would be unfair and incorrect.
The Lighthouse Hockey Power Rankings, as calculated by our super computer, simply scores a team based on the impressiveness of their results. If you don't play anyone good, you won't be ranked that high, even if you win every game. That issue would dissipate over the course of the season, but for now the Isles have had a rather easy strength of schedule. The fact that they lost a few games this week has dropped them in other publication's (mostly) opinion-related rankings, coincidentally down to around the same level that our rankings have them.
Weekly Roundup of Opinion-ish Polls
Opinion-ish, in the fact that Greenberg is in control of the Washington Post rankings (Opinions? We don't need no stinking opinions!!!!) and TSN uses player stats, team records, an intangibles dartboard, and a Don Cherry 8-Ball.
| Site | Updated | New Ranking | Prior Ranking | Comments | |
| 1 | CBS | 11/4/2014 | 17 | 5 | After that feel-good start, the Islanders have crash-landed. The goaltending has been particularly disappointing as the Isles sit 29th in the league with an .881 team save percentage. |
| 2 | ESPN | 11/3/2014 | 22 | 4 | After a 4-0-0 start, the Isles have dropped five of seven games, including three straight. Last season's issue is back despite new goalies: the Isles are 29th in goals against per game at 3.54. Yikes. |
| 3 | TSN | 11/3/2014 | 19 | 8 | Outscored 12-4 in three losses last week, the Islanders might be wondering what happened to that alleged offseason goaltending improvement, as Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson have combined for an .883 save percentage. |
| 4 | Fox | 10/30/2014 | 11 | 16 | The Islanders are finally playing an exciting brand of hockey and are second in the league in goals per game at 3.78. Just in time to move to Brooklyn. Doesn't seem fair. Then again, the goaltending and defense could use some toughening. |
| 5 | USA Today | 11/3/2014 | 17 | 6 | After a seven-goal effort, Islanders were held to four goals in their last three games. |
| 6 | WaPo | 11/3/2014 | 13 | 7 | Adjusted Win%: 0.514; Adjusted ShotAttClose: 0.555 |
| Average | 17 | 8 | We don't know what regression and small sample sizes are (Greenberg excluded) |
The drop is expected (except with Fox, since they publish way earlier than others do). The average placement of 17th is now pretty close to the place our own rankings have them:
LHH Power Rankings
Through 11/3/14.
| GP | Reg W | OT W | SO | OT L | Reg L | LHH Pts | LHH Rating | ||
| 1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 145 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 12 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 122 |
| 3 | Nashville Predators | 11 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 121 |
| 4 | Minnesota Wild | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 119 |
| 5 | San Jose Sharks | 13 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 42 | 119 |
| 6 | Detroit Red Wings | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 119 |
| 7 | Anaheim Ducks | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 55 | 117 |
| 8 | Calgary Flames | 13 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 42 | 113 |
| 9 | New Jersey Devils | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 111 |
| 10 | St. Louis Blues | 11 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 111 |
| 11 | Vancouver Canucks | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 109 |
| 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 12 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 105 |
| 13 | Dallas Stars | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 104 |
| 14 | New York Rangers | 11 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 104 |
| 15 | Philadelphia Flyers | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 104 |
| 16 | Ottawa Senators | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 99 |
| 17 | Washington Capitals | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 97 |
| 18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 96 |
| 19 | Colorado Avalanche | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 93 |
| 20 | New York Islanders | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 91 |
| 21 | Winnipeg Jets | 12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 34 | 90 |
| 22 | Boston Bruins | 13 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 37 | 88 |
| 23 | Los Angeles Kings | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 88 |
| 24 | Edmonton Oilers | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 27 | 88 |
| 25 | Chicago Blackhawks | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 30 | 86 |
| 26 | Arizona Coyotes | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 83 |
| 27 | Florida Panthers | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 80 |
| 28 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 24 | 77 |
| 29 | Carolina Hurricanes | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 63 |
| 30 | Buffalo Sabres | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 58 |
For comparison's sake, the Isles were 19th last week. So, this is only a one-spot drop despite the three losses in a row.
Surprised? Well, keep in mind that the teams the Isles have beaten earlier in the year are beginning to show a pulse. Therefore, the wins against Carolina (for example) actually help keep the Isles a bit more buoyant. Their overall score did drop from 99 to 91, however, so the single-place drop is a bit of a mirage.
Anyways, the Isles have a chance to make a major move if they can turn things around against the Kings and Ducks. I'm sure the team will turn things around eventually this season, either through the bounces finally going our goalies' way or through something more drastic. The Isles simply don't belong in the lower half of this table.
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