Islanders News: Another deflating loss pushes them closer to deadline sellers

The New York Islanders last night dropped a road game to the Buffalo Sabres, despite coming back to tie the game three times. A goal scored with 2:55 remaining by Victor Olofsson—his first in thirty games, since October—sealed their fate in that game.

Yet we press onward in search of some second-half magic, although even that likely wouldn’t be enough at this point. But hey, at least Kyle Palmieri scored.

Islanders News

About last night:

• Talk about ending a road trip with a whimper. [LHH]
• They lost to Dustin Tokarski. Dustin Tokarski. [Rapid Recap]
• They finish this swing 1-3-0 and are 3-7-0 in their last ten games. Playoffs, baby! Playoffs! [3 Takeaways]
• In those last ten games, the Islanders have allowed a non-empty net goal in the final minute of a period on four different occasions. Pathetic. [NYI Skinny]
• Whatever playoff hopes the Islanders reasonably had, they have to be fading quickly. [Newsday]

Not just about last night:

• Whatever Barry Trotz said worked: He told Palmieri to forget the past, and the new dad scored two goals. [Newsday]
• Semyon Varlamov remains quarantined in Western Canada, so it’s Ilya Sorokin’s net for the time being. [Newsday]
• The Islanders aren’t quite yet sure who they are this season just by virtue of the fact that last night was only game no. 43. I mean, everyone else knows they’re toast. But even still, it seems that only the UFAs would be available, although who knows whether they extend Cal Clutterbuck. [The Athletic]

Elsewhere

Last night’s NHL scores include the Penguins coming back to beat the Flyers with the help of Sidney Crosby’s 500th NHL goal and Tyler Toffoli recording a goal in his first game in a Flames uniform as Calgary demolished Columbus. Also, the Stars snapped the Avalanche’s 19-game point streak; it was Colorado’s first regulation loss at home since October 26.

• Toffoli’s trade to the Calgary Flames represents the first domino; Elliotte Friedman sizes up the rest of the league in the wake of the deal. [32 Thoughts]
• Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon swears to god that he’s not trading for Marc-André Fleury. Seriously, guys, he means it. He is definitely not trading for the guy he just cap-dumped this summer. He means it. [NHL]
• Team USA is out. They went 0-for-5 in the shootout and were knocked out by Slovakia. [ESPN]
• The Olympics just aren’t the same without NHL players. They’re just numbers, but we can imagine what a tournament featuring NHL players would have looked like. [The Athletic]
• Jaromir Jagr turned 50 yesterday. He’s still playing the game of hockey, but now he’s teaching it, too. [NHL]
• New Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft isn’t taking this moment for granted after how diligently he has worked to get there. [The Athletic]