Islanders Picking the Wrong Time to Struggle

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The New York Islanders are not used to this position.  They are in the hunt for the playoffs as one of the conference’s top seeds.  They sat atop the Metropolitan Division for much of the season and are now in second and falling quickly.

The Islanders are used to chasing.  What little success they have had over the past 20 years has been making runs at the 8th seed and taking series to seven games but ultimately falling as an 8th seed should.

This season is different.  With their red hot start and the “magical feeling” of the last year of the Coliseum – the year of Yes! Yes! Yes!

It all seemed like we were headed for that magical season.  Then came the month of March.

To be fair, the season really started declining in February.  Leading by a  pair of goals in the third period against the Rangers on February 16th, the Islanders collapsed and the Rangers escaped Long Island with a huge win.  After finishing out February with four wins and three more losses, the Islanders were .500 in their last eight games headed to March and preparing for serious April hockey.

Things haven’t gotten better, they have gotten worse.

They have dropped six of eight games in March and worse than that only one of those losses were in overtime  which equals a major drop in points.

Jack Capuono has been good at keeping his team on even keel through the season, but the last week, this has not been the case.  They have dropped four in a row and have only managed exactly 1 goal in each of those games.

This weekend, the Islanders play the Devils in Newark which represents a chance to get back in the right direction as the Devils are currently a long shot to make the playoffs.

However, as the Islanders are currently in their worst run of form of the season, the Devils have been playing well.  They have collected 5 of the last 6 possible points including shutting out the Penguins in their last game.