Isaiah George Talk On Hockey Night in New York EAST MEADOW, NY -- Through 40 NHL games, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] find themselves in last place in the Metropolitan Division, second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, and the sixth-worst team in the league. They have 11 regulation wins, a league-worst power play (11 percent), and a league-worst penalty kill (64 percent). However, through their struggles and significant injuries, they find themselves five points out of the second wild-card spot. "It's crazy how jammed up it's been," Islanders forward Brock Nelson told The Hockey News. "It feels like it's been a little bit of an odd year, but halfway through it, we still think that we can get on a run and string four or five wins together. Then, all of a sudden, the picture looks a little bit different. "So, we just got to worry about one game at a time. We got a big win in Boston. We want to follow it up. It's a tough place to go play in Vegas, and obviously one of the best in the league. So, just one game at a time. Each game is crucial for us, just knowing how tight the Eastern Conference is." Despite a 5-4 overtime win against the Boston Bruins on Sunday, a key two points, the Islanders still have work to do. The Columbus Blue Jackets, who, after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night, find themselves in the second wild-card spot with 42 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins also have 42 points but are behind Columbus because the Blue Jackets have 14 regulation wins to Pittsburgh's 11. Behind Pittsburgh are the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens with 41 points. Ottawa did get hot for a bit but is now without the Vezina-caliber goaltender Linus Ullmark, who is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Montreal is 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. The Detroit Red Wings, who have 40 points, are on a five-game winning streak. Then you have the Philadelphia Flyers with 39, the New York Rangers with 38, and the Islanders with 37. The Buffalo Sabres are the ones, as of Wednesday, who find themselves dead last. "I feel like everyone is tuned in around the league just watching. You are seeing the storylines and checking highlights on NHL Network, keeping you up to date on a bunch of different things. "You're in tune with it, but you're not putting a ton of energy into it. You're seeing it for sure. But at the end of the day, we want to be worried about our game, and our game only." Being in a tight wild-card race is nothing new for the Islanders. But this race is a bit different than the ones we've seen over the last few seasons. "Last year, it was tight in the wild card, but there weren't as many teams fighting for those spots. There was probably a bottom couple of teams in each division," Dobson said. "This year, you win two games, you're in the playoffs. If you lose two games, you're last in the division. I think we can't focus on that, just one game at a time. We know if we play our game each night, build off our last win, and go from there, we'll put ourselves in a good position. But yeah, just one game at a time." Finding a way to get points in each of these next two games -- at least a point against Vegas, and for sure, two points are needed against Utah -- could have the Islanders feeling really good about where they are at. Coming home on a three-game winning streak would be even better. "Ottawa got a winning streak. They were back in the picture. Montreal is having one. They're back in the picture. So we just hope to keep playing the way we've been playing," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. "I thought we had a really strong two games against Toronto. I thought we had a good game in Boston. So I mean, and okay, we had a so-so one in Pittsburgh, but the one before against Pittsburgh was a good game. "I feel like we played three very good games, actually four very good games in our last five. So that consistency, that's what we're looking for. And having that mindset to be hungry now. We need to go there and be hungry and ready to do whatever it takes to win that hockey game in Vegas." "Let's go into Vegas. It's a tough building to play. They're really good at home. Let's play a good game, and let's see where we are," Roy said. "But regardless, we got to have to be ready for the next one, because, like we mentioned, it sucks what I'm going to say, but we need that winning streak." The Islanders battle the Golden Knights at 10 PM ET on Thursday.
