Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/ Newsday
The New York Islanders, who are without top goalie Jaroslav Halak, have lost all three of their road games this passed weekend. Halak is currently sidelined with a groin injury and likely will miss the rest of the season. The Isles were on the road to play the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1), the Nashville Predators (4-2) and the Dallas Stars (3-0), all of which ended in Isles losses. Despite the attempts made to save each game, the team couldn’t get it together in time.
Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss made 33 saves in the team’s game against the Stars, but the team couldn’t make their way to the Dallas net to get themselves on the scoreboard. Greiss has been performing well, therefore Halak’s absence isn’t the only reason for the Isles’ recent lack of success. The team has had a problem beating out their competitor’s goalie and haven’t taken advantage of the scoring chances.
With the postseason quickly approaching and the season winding down, every game, and every win, counts. The Islanders will need to forget about their recent falls if they want to put themselves in good standings. The Islanders were third in the Metropolitan Division, with 85 points, trailing the New York Rangers who are in second and the Washington Capitals who lead the division, and the league, with 107 points.
The loss of these games put the Isles at a disadvantage. When the Isles fell to the Stars, the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the Philadelphia Flyers and took third place. Currently, the Isles are in the first wild card spot for the Eastern Conference, a spot they were not planning on being in. With the teams all so close in points it is not an ideal for a team to slip into the wild card. If the Islanders want to get themselves back into the top three they’ll have to come out on top against the Flyers on Monday night. The Isles trail the Penguins for third place by one point, so a win would put the team ahead.
This is all relevant though to the Penguins’ final score against the Capitals on Sunday, which will determine whether or not the Isles will have an extra point, or two, to top to win their place back. Until their game on Monday night against the Flyers, there is no way to tell whether or not the team will take back their previous place in the final three. If the Penguins do grab another win, however, it will be more for the the team to have to overcome.
