The Peter DeBoer era began with some renewed hope. Thoughts of a "coaching change bump" and a strong win over Toronto shifted the energy on Long Island. But it would be short-lived after a crushing loss to Ottawa, which looks to have all but ended the Islanders’ season before the math makes it official. Sean and Arthur cover what happened and what's to come in the final two games for the Islanders’ 25-26 campaign.
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
I’ve been an Islanders fan since the 1992-93 season, which means I’ve seen just about every version of this team there is to see (besides the Stanley Cup-winning type, of course).
I’ve seen the ones that never had a chance, seasons where you knew by Thanksgiving it wasn’t happening. I’ve seen the rare teams that locked up their spot early and let you enjoy the ride without the nightly anxiety. But mostly? It’s been this — the grind. The full-season push. The scoreboard watching. The living and dying with every point in a race for that final playoff spot. Sometimes they got there. Sometimes they didn’t.
But I can’t remember anything like this.
Not like this. Not 4-9-0 over their last 13. Not one goal in two must-win games at home with your season on the line and a new coach behind the bench.
Because make no mistake, this wasn’t just a bad stretch or a tough break. This was a collapse. A full, undeniable free-fall from a team that had everything in front of it and simply let it slip away. They were in position. They didn’t just believe — they acted like it, too. Mathieu Darche bought at the deadline, raised the stakes, and told everyone this season was about more than just progress.
And then it unraveled.
Not because the teams around them surged. Not because they were outplayed over time. But because they lost control of their own season. That’s the part that’s hard to process. That’s the part that sticks. They did it to themselves.
This started with good vibes. With upside. With the feeling that something was building, something real. You could see it in the way Matthew Schaefer energized everything, in the way the building started to believe again. You could picture it — playoff games at UBS Arena, a team nobody wanted to face.
Instead, they seem destined to finish sixth in the division.
And that’s more than disappointing. Because this isn’t something Islanders fans are used to seeing. Not like this. Not from a team that had it all right there.
This wasn’t just another ending. It was something entirely different.
