The New York Islanders look lost.
Mired in a five-game losing streak (0-4-1), the Isles went from looking like a safe bet to get into the NHL playoffs to a long shot in a matter of eight days.
The offense has disappeared, the defense has reverted back to its poor form and the goaltending has been a letdown.
It’s been a calamitous week for Patrick Roy’s team, but a win against the Detroit Red Wings in regulation on Thursday night puts the Islanders right back in the mix for a playoff spot.
A loss would all but end the Isles’ postseason hopes.
Like the Islanders, the Red Wings followed up a two-week heater with a gut-checking losing streak to go from postseason shoo-in to outsider.
The difference between the two teams is that Detroit’s winning stretch was built on red-hot goaltending and an opportunistic offense, while the Islanders played a strong 5-on-5 game to get back into the race with a six-game winning streak.
Both teams have lost the plot of late.
The Islanders have been outscored 20-6 in their five-game losing streak.
Sometimes teams in funks can point to some silver linings and/or put some blame on poor luck during a downtick, but the Isles have just been plain bad over the last 10 days.
They’ve been outscored 13-4 at 5-on-5 and even though their -1.9 expected goal difference suggests they haven’t been that poor, it’s not like they deserve a lot better.
The good news for the Islanders is that Detroit hasn’t been much better of late.
The Wings halted a seven-game losing streak with a win over the Sabres on Saturday and have now won two of their last three, but they needed a last-gasp goal to get to overtime against the Blue Jackets and they were dreadful in a loss to the Penguins on Sunday.
The Wings have stopped the bleeding, but their game is not in great shape.
It makes sense that this game is currently sitting as a pick’em. While the Islanders are the better team on paper and should have the edge in goaltending, it’s really tough to trust them right now. Trying to handicap a team’s confidence is tricky, but it’s clear the Islanders are not in a good place at the moment.
But then again, neither are the Red Wings. Detroit’s defensive form has been poor all season and now that the goaltending has cooled down, there’s no margin for error.
So rather than back either side in this coin flip, I’d look to the prop market for value.
The Isles have been one of the best teams in first periods all season and most of that is because of their defensive work in the early stages of games.
With this being essentially a playoff game — Detroit is three points ahead of the Isles (who have a game in hand) — I’d expect things to be cagey for the first 20 minutes as these reeling clubs try to limit mistakes and protect their goaltenders.
The Bet: First period Under 0.5 goals (+425, DraftKings)