New York Islanders: Four Games That Sunk The Season

San Jose Sharks 3-2 New York Islanders, October 25th 2017

This game was a black Friday matinee right in the middle of the Isles early season struggles. I remember sitting at home watching with a stomach full of turkey. Thomas Greiss was in net for the Isles as they took on the defending Western Conference Champs at the end of their west coast road trip.

Anders Lee got the Isles on the board just four minutes into the game. It was only his fourth goal of the year. It’s hard to remember, but Lee had such a slow start. He would finish the season with a team leading 34 goals. That would be the only tally in the first and the Isles led 1-0 at the break.

New York Islanders

The second was all San Jose. During this early season stretch of games, the Islanders would have single periods that took them out of games, and this felt like the one. Goals by Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns put the Sharks on top and the Islanders looked out of place against a superior team.

Down 2-1, the third didn’t show much promise. They lacked a sense of urgency and not many thought they would tie the game. With 58 seconds left in the game, Jack Capuano pulled Greiss. Tavares made an all-star feed from behind the net finding a wide-open Nick Leddy in front of the net. Leddy would score his fourth of the year to tie the game at two.

I couldn’t believe it. The Islanders were going to steal a point against one of the leagues best. Anything positive they did in overtime was going to be a bonus…well that’s if the game got to overtime.

With 23 seconds to go, Patrick Marleau threw a shot from the point that beat Greiss to give the Sharks the lead right back. What a deflating moment for such a struggling team.

The Isles would lose the game 3-2 in regulation. If they just could have held on for another 23 seconds, maybe that overtime point would have been enough to get them into the playoffs.