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NY Post
New York Post
18 Nov 2023


NextImg:Islanders still near playoff picture despite disastrous stretch

CALGARY, Alberta — There are two factors working in the Islanders’ favor right now. 

The first is that despite having just five wins in 16 games, they have gotten to overtime five times.

The second is that, bar the Rangers, no one in the Metropolitan Division is racking up points right now. 

Those combine to mean that, despite their struggles, the Islanders are far from out of the playoff race.

In fact, they are just a few wins away from being in the thick of things. 

Granted, if a few wins were easy to come by, the Islanders would not be in this situation to begin with.

But only three points separate the Islanders from the Capitals and Hurricanes, who are tied for second in the Metropolitan.

They are just two points behind the Devils and Flyers and a point behind the Penguins. 

Islanders center Casey Cizikas shoots at goalie Philipp Grubauer during the Islanders’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Kraken.
AP

And, for whatever it’s worth, the Islanders believe they are playing mostly well, aside from the constant penalties that have been killing them. 

“Five-on-five, we’re playing good hockey,” Casey Cizikas told The Post following the 4-3 defeat in Seattle on Thursday. “Power play’s been really good. The kill’s been killing us. We’re working, we’re trying everything. We’re trying out there. We’re battling, we’re fighting. It just seems like every opportunity’s going into the net right now.” 

If the Islanders can beat the Flames on Saturday, the optimistic view would be that they would have gone NHL-.500 on their road trip and would be back to NHL-.500 on the season. 

Of course, that would involve some pretty positive spin and the Islanders would need to avoid stumbling against a Calgary team that has gone 4-1-1 over its past six games in order to make it happen. 

New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) congratulates defenseman Noah Dobson, who scored against the Seattle Kraken during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Seattle.

Mathew Barzal congratulates Noah Dobson, who scored during the third period of the Islanders’ loss to the Kraken.
AP

If they fail in that, it would ramp the noise around the team to another level going into Thanksgiving week, including that around the job status of coach Lane Lambert

“We obviously don’t want that,” Noah Dobson said. “We look at it, we get a chance to get a win on Saturday, go 1-1-2 on a tough road trip. But we just have to turn our focus, stick with it, put our head down and try and get out of a slump here on Saturday.” 

Seattle’s three power-play goals on Thursday meant the Islanders have allowed eight power-play goals in a three-game span for the first time since Dec. 17-21, 2009.

It was also the first time in franchise history the Islanders allowed three power-play goals on consecutive nights, per team statistician Eric Hornick. 

The Islanders have not won at the Scotiabank Saddledome since March 2018, and have beaten the Flames just once in their past six tries.