For a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in six seasons, the Islanders sure looked last season like a team that could contend for the Stanley Cup in the near future after taking the Penguins to six games in an exciting first-round series. But it’s been all downhill for the team since a 2-0-1 start.
One issue has been goaltending. Evgeni Nabokov, who bottomed out in the playoffs last season, had a 3.30 goals against average and a .892 save percentage before landing on injured reserve three weeks ago.
The Isles are 2-10-2 in the past 14 games. The defense has been pretty bad: The Islanders have allowed three or more goals in nine straight games. Their past two losses have been particularly painful, giving up the tying goal with less than a minute left before Alex Ovechkin scored the overtime winner Saturday, which was followed up by racing out to a 2-0 lead before Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal in the third period and the winner in overtime of a 3-2 Penguins win Tuesday.
General manager Garth Snow acquired winger Thomas Vanek for Matt Moulson, and while Vanek has four goals in 12 games with the Islanders, the move has yet to pay dividends. The good news is John Tavares has been his normal self, with 11 goals and 30 points in 27 games, but the Islanders are in last place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the conference. If the losing continues, head coach Jack Capuano won’t have a job for long and other changes could be made in the organization.
(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)
1. Blackhawks (1): If Corey Crawford could play all 82 games, they’d be fine. But he can’t, and backup Nikolai Khabibulin has been awful, getting pulled in two of his four starts. Maybe Antti Raanta (2-0, 2.16 goals against average in three starts) is the answer.
2. Kings (3): Talk about a memorable debut. Kings rookie Martin Jones had 26 saves and stopped all nine shooters in a 3-2 shootout win over the Ducks on Tuesday night.
3. Sharks (7): San Jose has the fewest regulation losses in the league with just three. They’ve won nine of 10, mostly thanks to goalie Antti Niemi, who has been spectacular.
4. Bruins (6): The Atlantic Division leaders are the best team in the Eastern Conference and have an 8-3-0 divisional record in arguably the league’s toughest division.
5. Penguins (10): Evgeni Malkin sure wishes the calendar didn’t turn to December. He had four goals and 21 assists – including helpers in 14 of 15 games – in November.
6. Blues (2): Back-to-back losses to the Sharks (6-3) and Kings (3-2), but St. Louis is still five points behind the first-place Blackhawks for the best record in the Western Conference.
7. Ducks (4): Lost their past two against the Sharks and Kings, both in shootouts. It’s kind of hard to win shootouts when you go 0-for-12.
8. Avalanche (5): Now comes the real test for head coach Patrick Roy and the young Avalanche, who have a tough Canadian road trip upcoming and have won five of nine games – three after regulation.
9. Wild (9): Josh Harding was 8-2-2 with a 1.88 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in November to help the Wild close the gap on the Central-leading Blackhawks.
10. Coyotes (8): They’ve had no problem scoring goals – ranking fourth in the league at 3.1 per game – but the concern now is they’re giving up even more, at 3.2 per game.
11. Canadiens (13): Montreal has used an 8-1-2 stretch behind Max Pacioretty (eight goals in seven games) and Carey Price (who hasn’t allowed more than two goals in eight straight starts).
12. Red Wings (20): Looks like their slump is a thing of the past. Detroit has won four in a row, allowing just four combined goals, but the loss of Henrik Zetterberg — out for at least two weeks with a herniated disc — is troublesome.
13. Lightning (12): Starting to look like they miss Steven Stamkos. Tampa Bay has been shut out in back-to-back games and three of its past five.
14. Canucks (16): Went 3-1 on a four-game road trip, but the one loss was probably the game coach John Tortorella wanted most: a 5-2 loss against the Rangers, one of his former teams.
15. Stars (15): Earned five of a possible six points against the Blackhawks and Ducks, showing they can play with the best teams in the league.
16. Capitals (14): Sure, shootout and overtime wins are nice, but the playoff tiebreaker is regulation wins and Washington has just eight of those. In the past 13 games, the Capitals only have one regulation win.
17. Maple Leafs (11): The Leafs are in their first slump of the season, with five straight losses. So much for the good goaltending: They have allowed 23 goals (4.6 per game) in that stretch.
18. Jets (22): Off to a good start, going 3-1 to begin a season-long six-game road trip, which included a sweep of the Rangers, Devils and Islanders.
19. Devils (19): Cory Schneider did something last week he hadn’t done all season: win two games in a row. The Devils also scored five (!) goals for him in Friday’s win over the Hurricanes. New Jersey had scored five goals in Schneider’s past five starts put together.
20. Rangers (18): Followed up a convincing 5-2 win over the Canucks with a 5-2 loss to the Jets – both at home. With an upcoming nine-game homestand, the Rangers hope to stockpile some wins, but they are just 5-6-0 at MSG.
21. Predators (17): Goalie Mike Mazanec (five wins, two shutouts) was named rookie of the month for November. He would’ve had a lot more than five wins if his teammates could score goals.
22. Flyers (21): Vincent Lecavalier scored 10 goals last season and was bought out by the Lightning for lack of production. He already has nine this season, on pace to score over 30.
23. Senators (24): You’re not going to win many games when you go 1-for-14 on the power play in three games. Fortunately for Ottawa, one of those games was against the Panthers, which helped them avoid an 0-3 mark.
24. Hurricanes (23): If only they woke up to play everyone else like they do the Capitals. The Hurricanes earned a convincing 4-1 win over Washington on Tuesday and also beat them in October.
25. Blue Jackets (25): Sergei Bobrovsky, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, exited Tuesday’s 1-0 win over the Lightning with a leg injury. If he’s out for an extended period, Columbus can forget any chance of making the playoffs.
26. Flames (27): Tough break for the Flames, who lost rookie Sean Monahan, their second-leading scorer, with a hairline fracture in his foot, for at least a few weeks.
27. Islanders (26): Did this team really make the playoffs a season ago?
28. Oilers (29): Ilya Bryzgalov played excellently in two of his three starts, but he could miss some time after suffering a head injury Sunday.
29. Panthers (28): That’s more like the Panthers we’ve come to know and … know. They were outscored 14-5 in three losses this week.
30. Sabres (30): Things can’t get much worse for the Sabres, who are 6-20-2, and have scored two or fewer goals in six of seven games. Their 48 goals scored are by far the fewest in the league.