You clicked anyway? Are you really sure you want to do this? Hasn't your friend sent you a video of his or her household pet doing something hilarious that you could watch a few times instead?
Fine, don't say I didn't warn you...
The Isles have been terribad lately. They somehow managed to compile a pretty good record on the recent long road trip anyway, but now the results are matching the product. The even-more-recent but shorter road trip will attest to that.
Publications, sharpen your knives!
Weekly Roundup of Opinion Polls
Site | Updated | New Ranking | Prior Ranking | Comments |
CBS | 3/22/2016 | 14 | 9 | The Isles are in a big-time slump as the absence of Jaroslav Halak looms large in the coming weeks. New York has lost six of seven games and has slipped into wild-card position. If the Islanders aren't careful, they could slide right out of the playoffs. |
ESPN | 3/21/2016 | 14 | 9 | On Saturday, the Islanders dropped their third consecutive game; they are 1-3-2 in their past six. Thomas Greiss made 33 saves in a 3-0 loss to the Stars. The Islanders have scored three goals during their three-game slide. |
TSN | 3/16/2016 | 7 | 10 | It’s been a bit of a grind, 1-1-2, since Jaroslav Halak suffered a groin injury that is forcing Thomas Greiss to handle a starter’s workload. He’s already played a career-high 32 games, but also has a career-best .928 save percentage this season. |
THN | 3/16/2016 | 11 | 3 | Isles in the "Mushy Middle" section. "Keeping Kyle Okposo has worked for the Islanders so far as he has four goals and nine points in eight games to lead New York post-deadline" |
SI | 3/22/2016 | 17 | 9 | Two weeks ago, the Isles were sitting pretty in the standings. Now? Four straight losses have left them clinging to a wild-card berth, with just three points separating them from ninth-place Philadelphia, the team that whipped them, 4–1, on Monday night. New York has scored only 11 goals its past seven games. Time for captain John Tavares (goal-less in five) to step up. |
Average | 12.6 | 8 | You're still here? Don't you have a few Candy Crush lives left to play? |
I don't think anyone here blames the above sites for coming down hard on a slumping team that ought to be rounding into playoff form. TSN and THN both update their power rankings later today. Shame we can't let them in on the fun, but I have a finite amount of time to finish writing about this turd-tastic run of play. Speaking of things that drop...
LHH Power Rankings
Games through 3/22/16. Every. Stinkin'. One. Of. Them.
(6) | (4) | (3) | (2) | (0) | |||||
Reg | OT | OT | Reg | LHH | LHH | ||||
GP | W | W | SO | L | L | Pts | Rating | ||
1 | Washington Capitals | 72 | 42 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 299 | 124.3 |
2 | Dallas Stars | 74 | 36 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 266 | 114.8 |
3 | Los Angeles Kings | 73 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 248 | 110.6 |
4 | San Jose Sharks | 73 | 33 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 26 | 242 | 109.3 |
5 | St. Louis Blues | 74 | 31 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 251 | 109.3 |
6 | Chicago Blackhawks | 74 | 32 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 25 | 247 | 109.2 |
7 | New York Rangers | 73 | 34 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 25 | 244 | 108.7 |
8 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 72 | 33 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 243 | 107.6 |
9 | Florida Panthers | 73 | 32 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 24 | 238 | 106.8 |
10 | New York Islanders | 71 | 31 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 234 | 106.6 |
11 | Anaheim Ducks | 72 | 34 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 247 | 106.5 |
12 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 73 | 32 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 242 | 105.8 |
13 | Nashville Predators | 73 | 33 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 238 | 103.7 |
14 | Philadelphia Flyers | 72 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 24 | 220 | 102.7 |
15 | Boston Bruins | 73 | 30 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 226 | 102.6 |
16 | Colorado Avalanche | 73 | 32 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 220 | 101.5 |
17 | Minnesota Wild | 74 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 223 | 99.7 |
18 | Detroit Red Wings | 73 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 26 | 219 | 99.7 |
19 | New Jersey Devils | 73 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 31 | 206 | 96.8 |
20 | Carolina Hurricanes | 73 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 199 | 93.9 |
21 | Montreal Canadiens | 74 | 26 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 34 | 198 | 92.3 |
22 | Buffalo Sabres | 74 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 194 | 91.6 |
23 | Ottawa Senators | 74 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 32 | 196 | 91.0 |
24 | Winnipeg Jets | 73 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 185 | 90.1 |
25 | Arizona Coyotes | 73 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 194 | 89.1 |
26 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 73 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 35 | 180 | 88.4 |
27 | Calgary Flames | 73 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 177 | 86.8 |
28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 72 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 35 | 164 | 85.5 |
29 | Vancouver Canucks | 72 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 169 | 84.9 |
30 | Edmonton Oilers | 76 | 19 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 167 | 80.3 |
You might ask, "How the hell can they still be a top 10 team?!" and I want to agree with you, but consider two things:
1) This table is generated with no regard to recent run of play. The first game of the year weighs just as much as the last. Taken as a whole, this team has had a pretty good year thus far. It just doesn't feel that way right now.
2) They did drop five positions, which is pretty impressive in a one-week span. Those last few games really managed to drag their 71 game average down that much.
Told you not to read. Now go watch an appropriate palate cleanser.