Lighthouse Hockey: Try to fixate on something else.
The final four-game homestretch begins tonight for the chief combatants in the Eastern Conference lower-seeds playoff race. With 78 games down, the Islanders (89 pts.) host the Leafs, the Blue Jackets (90 pts.) visit the Sabres, the Senators (92 pts.) host the Panthers, and the Flyers (92 pts.) are in Detroit (89 pts.). Technically, the […]
Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference results were not great for the Islanders as the Ottawa Senators beat the Atlantic-leading Tampa Bay Lightning (with a five-goal third period!) in regulation and the Red Wings and Blue Jackets had a three-point game, with Detroit falling via shootout. But at least we know where everyone stands with four games […]
Monday was the first day of Islanders practice under new head coach Peter DeBoer, and the first chance for media and fans to hear from both DeBoer and the man who made the big move, general manager Mathieu Darche. For the most part, nothing Darche said would surprise you: It’s a move mostly for the […]
Mike and Dan have many words about the firing of Patrick Roy and the hiring of Peter DeBoer as head coach, as well as for the disastrous week that knocked the Islanders out of the playoffs. Not in a million years did we expect the Islanders to lose all four games in the important week […]
On the game schedule, the Islanders are idle for several days, but the events around them are anything but. On Sunday, the long-looming games in hand came to roost as the Senators beat the Hurricanes and the Flyers beat the Bruins, both climbing above the Isles to push them out of a playoff spot — […]
Stuck in their first four-game losing streak of the season at a critical point in an unexpected playoff chase, the New York Islanders fired Patrick Roy as head coach and replaced him with Pete DeBoer. It was shocking in that it came on Easter Sunday, and amid their first sustained struggle in a season where […]
The Islanders took the lead twice in this game off early goals in the first and second period, but once again came up short. Marc Gatcomb scored his third of the season, Max Shabanov scored in his return to the lineup, Anders Lee picked up his third goal in four games, Mat Barzal got his […]
The Islanders have chosen a fantastic time to lose three straight in regulation for just the second time this season, the first coming in the opening days. That puts them in a very vulnerable position even though they start today still in playoff position by a point. Simon Holmstrom returned from injury in last night’s […]
No, we’re not gonna make it… The New York Islanders made the Eastern Conference playoff race that much more interesting by losing their third straight regulation game to the Philadelphia Flyers, allowing the visitors to pull into a four-way tie of teams with 88 points. The Islanders were outshot 12-2 and outscored 2-0 in the […]
All eyes are on Long Island tonight as the Islanders host the Philadelphia Flyers in a meeting rich with playoff implications and scoreboard watching from all the other idle teams chasing an Eastern Conference spot. The Flyers (86 pts., 75 GP) have pushed themselves back into the playoff picture with an 8-3-1 run, though that […]
Former NHL defenseman Ty Wishart calls in from an Australian beach to talk about his globe-spanning playing career and his 21 games with the Islanders in the eventful 2010-11 season. Drafted 16th overall by the Sharks and traded to Tampa Bay in the deal for Dan Boyle, Ty Wishart got a quick education in the […]
If the regular season ended this morning, the New York Islanders would qualify for the playoffs by virtue of having more points, thanks to having played one more game, than Detroit, Columbus, or Philadelphia. Tonight that will not change but it can get either better or more fragile as they host the Flyers, who desperately […]
Well that was 48 hours of frustration. At multiple points during both losses to the Penguins and Sabres, you thought the Islanders might at least get a point or more. In each case, things shifted suddenly and maddeningly. They wake up still in a playoff spot, but also still with their biggest competitors for that […]
After yesterday’s 8-3 loss, the Islanders really needed this game to go well. And it almost did, as they came back twice, with Cal Ritchie and Anders Lee finding the back of the net for game tying goals. But then the Sabres reclaimed the lead late, taking advantage of bad defensive play by the Islanders, […]
The Islanders are so, so, so badly in need of a bounce back from their horrific disassembly at home by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. Unfortunately, they have to do it against the Buffalo Sabres, who are vying for first overall in the conference. The Sabres are currently in a three-way tie with 98 […]
The New York Islanders continue to surprise us. “Lose a critical home game to the Penguins” was definitely in our probability set, but “have the tables flipped in an 8-goal second period of an 8-3 blowout” was not. That 8-3 final looks like a 5-3 game with three Patrick Roy empty netters, but it wasn’t […]
It’s (for the moment) 2nd vs. 3rd in the Metro tonight in Elmont, as the Islanders host the Penguins for their final(??) meeting of the regular season, at least. If things stay as they are — they never do — these two teams would meet in the first round of the postseason and both would […]
Mike and Dan recap a week in which the Islanders made us mad, then happy, then both in the same day before celebrating the Rangers elimination with a new Ranger Piece Theatre. The pendulum swung every way possible last week for the Islanders. An inexcusable loss to the lowly Blackhawks made the season look over. […]
The Islanders close out their five-game homestand tonight, with all the stakes on the line. It’s part of a critical back-to-back — they’re all “critical” right now — that finishes tomorrow in Buffalo. But tonight they can inflict direct damage on a fellow playoff spot contender and potential first-round opponent. The Pittsburgh Penguins arrive having […]
A sluggish first period where the Islanders gave up two goals in an afternoon game? I wouldn’t blame you if you turned your TV off after Matthew Tkachuk put the puck in the toy department with a between-the-legs shot. But… you would have missed a five-goal comeback win, led by Brayden Schenn’s three points and […]
The Islanders’ up-down, up-down form hopefully does not continue today when they host the Panthers for a 1 p.m. matinee in Elmont. Florida split two games at home (lost to the Wild, beat the Kraken) after finishing a road trip with a 4-1 loss in Calgary. Yes, they are last-except-for-the-Rangers in the East, but the […]
The New York Islanders needed this one after an extremely disappointing game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. There was some bad blood between the Islanders and the Stars after Mikko Rantanen knocked out Alexander Romanov for the season the last time these two teams played, but with Rantanen dealing with an injury of […]
The Islanders continue to tempt fate and add injuries to the blueline as they host the Dallas Stars tonight. Tony DeAngelo is definitely out and Ryan Pulock is called a gametime decision, meaning Isaiah George would step in if Pulock misses his third straight game. (Alex Romanov, out for the regular season thanks to Mikko […]
What shall we expect of the Islanders tonight? With every point crucial in a crowded playoff race, they are in a run where they 1) played aimlessly against Ottawa yet still had at least a point on the table until the final 11 seconds, 2) gave up a gazillion goals to the Habs, 3) played […]
With multiple teams pushing for a playoff spot they are letting slip away, the Islanders wasted a golden opportunity to keep pace against a bottom-five team that has nothing to play for but the pretense that next season will be better. The Isles got out to a decent start and 1-0 lead in the first […]