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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
What a difference a weekend makes.
You can’t say the Isles were ever in a comfortable position when it came to the Wild Card standings, but you could say they were in the driver’s seat heading into this weekend’s games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.
Any advantage they had has now evaporated after a loss weekend where they scored just one goal and were out-classed by two of the better teams in the conference. After back-to-back losses, the Islanders no longer control their own destiny for a playoff spot. The Penguins can finish with one more point, and the Panthers, with five straight regulation wins (RW), would finish ahead of the Isles.
The chances were few and far between, but the effort was there, but it wasn’t enough with so much on the line at this juncture of the season. After being shut out by Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa, Carolina held the Isles to just eight high-danger shots and 14 scoring chances overall. The Lightning and Hurricanes each showed how they can stifle a team when they're on their game.
The Islanders were likely going to have to beat one of these teams - at least once - to earn a spot in the playoffs. They’ll get one more chance on Thursday night at UBS Arena against the Lightning, but until then, they have to sit with these three losses, use the practice time and see if they find a way to reignite their offense that has gone dormant over the last three games.
The Islanders may need five points, six, or maybe even more over the next four games. The margin of error is thin, and it may be non-existent depending on what the teams behind them do as they wait to take the ice again on Thursday.
Coming up, Mathew Barzal skates on Long Island, and Oliver Wahlstrom is confirmed done for the season. Plus, the Isles sign a pair of collegiate defensemen; Bryan Trottier hits the 50-goal mark, and the IslesMeetUp groups meet up in a big way down in Raleigh.
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