The New York Islanders are going through their latest rough patch at the worst possible time. And other teams around them are starting to win.
The New York Islanders are going through their latest rough patch at the worst possible time. And other teams around them are starting to win.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- The New York Islanders are going through their latest rough patch at the worst possible time.
Losers of four straight, the Islanders host the streaking Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, who have won three straight games.
The Canes are 4-1-1 since the NHL Trade Deadline, acquiring Jake Guentzel, who has a goal and four assists in four games, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who has two goals and two assists in six games.
It's not an ideal matchup for New York at this moment of the season, but the Islanders have played Carolina well this year, with a record of 2-0-1.
However, the way the Islanders are playing right now -- it's not pretty.
Over the course of this four-game slide, the Islanders have been outscored 16-5, allowing 11 goals at even strength while scoring five.
Their power play is 1-for-15, a whopping 6.7 percent, while the penalty kill has done the job 8-of-11 times, sitting at 72.7 percent.
New York has allowed 4.00 goals per game, scoring just 1.25.
Only one player has a positive plus/—, and that's fourth-line forward Matt Martin, who has played in three of the four games.
Everyone else owns either a 0 plus/- or it's in the negatives.
Romanov has been on the ice for six goals against and one goal for, while Noah Dobson has been on the ice for five goals against and zero goals.
Bo Horvat has three of the Islanders' five goals, while Palmieri and Martin each have one.
Anders Lee leads the team in penalty minutes with nine, seven of the nine coming during his fight against Buffalo Sabres' Connor Clifton -- who crushed Pierre Engvall last Thursday -- earning an extra two minutes for roughing.
Netminder Ilya Sorokin, who has started three of the four games, has a 3.74 GAA and an .883 SV% at 5-on-5. He has allowed nine goals on 77 shots, a -2.47 GSAA, and a .769 HDSV%.
He has stopped 7-of-8 on the penalty kill.
The Islanders, whose fate hasn't been in their hands since last Monday's 3-0 shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings, are now a full two points out of a wild-card spot.
On Monday night, the Washington Capitals leapfrogged a few teams after a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames and now hold down the second wild-card spot with 75 points.
The Islanders sit with 73 points and two fewer games played.
What also didn't help the Islanders was the fact that the surging Buffalo Sabres, who beat New York 4-0 a few games ago, are just two points back of the Islanders, with two more games played.
This playoff race is shaping up to be even tighter than it was last season, and if the Islanders want the dominos to fall their way with 15 games to go, it starts with snapping their losing streak against Carolina.