New York Islanders Season on the Brink

Since coming back from the NHL Christmas break, the New York Islanders have been a mess. If the Isles don’t get things turned around immediately the only drama the team will have this spring will be the NHL Lottery. The season is on the brink for the Islanders.

The last week and a half have been pure agony for the New York Islanders. After beating Buffalo at home, the Isles lost five in a row before getting a must-have home win versus the Devils in extra time. What makes things more painful is three of those losses during that bad stretch were against divisional rivals who are fighting for the playoffs, just like the Isles.

The Time Has to be Now

The time has to be now for the Islander players and their coaching staff. Many moons ago someone once said, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.” The Isles must follow these words in the hockey sense.

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Given the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, if the Isles don’t start to put some wins together as soon as possible, it will be too big of a hill to climb for them to make the playoffs.

From here on out the Isles have to be in playoff mode. Every win is beyond precious now due to their recent slide.

Rest of January

The Isles enter their five-day break and it couldn’t have come at a better time given their state of mind. The Isles performance the rest of January will probably dictate if they will be in the playoff mix in the East.

It’s not an easy stretch for the Isles as they have nine games left in January, starting with this Saturday’s contest (Jan 13th) versus the Blue Shirts at the Garden. Six of the Isles remaining nine January games have them on the road, where they have struggled mightily (8-13-1 on the road).

At this point, the Isles need to play each and every game like their hair is on fire no matter if the games are at home or on the road.

Nobody Cares About Injuries

There is an old saying in sports that nobody feels sorry for you when you have a lot of injuries. Yes, the Isles are currently shorthanded but they have to suck it up.

Losing Calvin de Haan for the season really hurts, especially when Johnny Boychuk goes down with a week to week injury. Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd who are currently nursing injuries don’t help matters as well. The final salt to the wound is losing a top-defensive prospect in Devon Toews, for the season due to a shoulder injury, who could have helped during this critical time.

Bottom line the Isles top players have to bring their “A” game every night and the youngsters need to make solid contributions as well. It’s all hands on deck.

Next: Isles Must Find Positives During Slump

The Isles are in the middle of a vicious storm. If they don’t right the ship immediately, they will sink.