The Islanders have been minutes...minutes away from being one of the better teams in the NHL, but a failure to close out games has them on the outside looking in.

The New York Islanders suffered another loss on Monday after losing the lead in the third period. 

Despite being staked to a 2-1 lead in the final 20 minutes, the Detroit Red Wings rallied for three straight goals in what became a 4-2 win:

Despite getting chances after falling behind, the Islanders were unable to finish, continuing a troubling trend the team faces when behind in the game. 

Per Natural Stat Trick, New York plays a lot of tight games, having the most time in the league either tied or playing the game separated by just one goal:

In time outright trailing, the Islanders have the eighth-smallest number in that scenario: 334:37 minutes. 

They are surrounded by names like the New Jersey Devils (351:31) in ninth and the Tampa Bay Lightning (311:38) in seventh. 

Despite the fact they tend not to trail all that often in games, the team often shoots themselves in the skate when the situations become bigger. 

Furthering a recent analysis by The Athletic's Arthur Staple, the Islanders have held teams to at most one goal through two periods in 14 of their 22 games. However, in those games, the Islanders are 5-5-4:

A lot of that is due to the Islanders giving the opposition too many opportunities to get back into games. 

The Islanders have been up by a goal the eighth-most time in the league, 273:32. The Washington Capitals (285:58) and Detroit Red Wings (268:55) are the next closest teams. 

Among some of the aforementioned losses is last Thursday's loss to the Red Wings, where Detroit tallied two in the final six minutes, a blown 3-1 lead to the Devils late in regulation, and three shutout defeats. 

When the Islanders are down by one, they sit in 11th place for the most amount of time in that scenario, clocking in at 249:35 seconds. They are barely behind the 10th-place Florida Panthers (250:02) and a few minutes ahead of the 12th-ranked Seattle Kraken (244:51). 

The Islanders have been able to come back and steal points at several points throughout the season, such as against the Edmonton Oilers on the road and Pittsburgh Penguins at home in a shootout win. 

However, it isn't a viable plan for long-term success, as the Islanders have often paid the price for it. 

As a result, when looking into the trends of the Islanders' times in certain situations, New York tends to be in a lot of tight games. 

However, even when they are ahead, the inability to finish off their opponents usually looms large, causing the Islanders to trail and be unable to recover late, hence their spot in the standings.