Islanders News: Not over yet, folks

Sometimes, a team has to bottom out and expel all the bad luck before things turn around for them. The Islanders can only hope that’s what is in store.

The New York Islanders dropped their sixth straight game last night, getting shut out by the fourth-string goaltender of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Joseph Woll. It was Woll’s second career NHL start, and he didn’t have much work to do.

The outlook for the New York Islanders Franchise couldn’t be better right now. They just opened a beautiful new building that they can finally call their own.

But the New York Islanders Hockey Team is in trouble. They have lost six straight games in regulation and eight players to injury or COVID-19 protocol in the last week, including their captain and both halves of their top defense pair. And they may have lost two more players to injury last night. Meanwhile, the rest of the Metro Division and Eastern Conference inexplicably continues to rack up points—the Islanders currently sit seven points out of a playoff spot. You almost hope for a COVID-19-protocol-required shutdown so that they can get themselves together and get healthy.

The Islanders, though, probably had the toughest first-quarter schedule among all NHL teams. It will even out to a point that might offset the hole in which they now find themselves. They’ve also played fewer games than most or all teams. Of course, they have to win those games in hand.

However bleak things may appear, the Isles are not yet done. There’s still time, Thanksgiving Cutoff be damned.

Islanders News

About last night:

• This team is cursed at the moment. How fittingly ‘Islanders’ to experience the worst luck they’ve had in years right when they open their decades-in-the-making home. [LHH]
• The slump continues. And Brock Nelson, who left the game after a first-period hit, remains the only Isles goal-scorer at UBS Arena. [Newsday]
• After not giving up a shorthanded goal all last regular season—and not conceding one until their final game of the 2020-21 season—the Islanders gave up their third shorthanded goal of the season. [3 Takeaways]
• Were it not for Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 37 of 40 shots, the result might have been uglier. The Isles were doubled up on shots. [Rapid Recap]
• Anthony Beauvillier returned, with Saturday’s test turning out to be a false positive. But Kieffer Bellows entered protocol. [Isles DTD | Newsday]
• It was the first time since December 2010 that the Islanders have lost six straight in regulation. I believe that was the beginning of the Jack Capuano Era, was it not? [NYI Skinny]
• Barry Trotz says his team isn’t looking for excuses. He also says that it was a lower-body injury for Brock Nelson and that there should be some update today on Nelson. Good news, please, Hockey Gods. Thanks Be to Bossy.

Moving on:

• The Islanders are dealing with adversity from all angles, right now. [Newsday]
• GM Lou Lamoriello may be tempted to act now, but he may also want to wait to see how this COVID-19 outbreak plays out. These next four games may make or break the Isles’ season—one that began with the most expectation they have had since their dynasty years—and it doesn’t help that their lineup is decimated, and the guys that do remain, including the coach, seem “shellshocked.” [The Athletic]
• But hey, DGB offers similar advice as I did above: The Islanders do not enter the Thanksgiving Cutoff in shambles like most teams. They have a much more favorable schedule down the stretch that may allow them to make up points. Hopefully, things even out as Metro Division foes face one another. [The Athletic]
• Even with the Islanders not coming in until late November, the UBS Arena opening came down to the wire. Thank you to the construction workers operating round-the-clock to get it done. [Newsday]
• There are 17 bars in the Yoob. Greg Wyshynski & Co. watched the opener from all 17. [E$PN]
• The Isles’ annual Turkey & Trimmings Food Drive is upcoming. The team isn’t bad enough anymore for your donation to equal a ticket voucher, but there are still great deals for an even better cause! [Islanders]

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include one result that really irritates me: The Rangers beat the Sabres by breaking a 4-4 tie with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. It does help that the Capitals lost to the Kraken in regulation, though. And hey, that win snapped Seattle’s six-game losing streak; they topped a Washington team that had earned points in seven straight games. It can be done!

• Frankly, not a lot going on around the league right now. The Islanders are the main story, between the new arena and the sucking wind. Savor it while you can, folks: Bad press is better than no press! [cartoonishly large cane pulls me off stage]
• The Tampa Bay Lightning lost “indefinitely” top-line center Brayden Point. He has an upper-body injury. [NHL]
• Dom L. has fun with His Model. And oh what fun it is, he said 100% genuinely and not at all sarcastically. [The Athletic]