The Islanders are in the midst of back-to-back home-and-homes against the Penguins and the Leafs. Success could bring the blue and orange back into the wild card conversation while faltering could bring them closer to dropping a "for sale" sign on the front lawn. David Alter of THN joins Sean and Stefen to talk Isles, Leafs, and much more!
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
For three long days, the Isles had no choice but to sit with their embarrassing 7-1 loss at home to the Buffalo Sabres. They then got to enjoy their 6-3 bounce-back win over the Pittsburgh Penguins for 22 hours. It wasn’t enough time.
With Marcus Högberg making his first NHL start in over three years (April 28, 2021), the Isles played a sleepy first 53 minutes in front of him on Sunday before scoring a pair of goals while playing 6-on-5, giving them a shot at stealing a point, but alas, the comeback fell short. The lack of jump midway through the game and overall sense of urgency was so evident that head coach Patrick Roy felt that the team wasn’t “mentally strong enough” in how they failed to respond to falling behind 2-0.
It was another inconsistent game in an inconsistent season, one in which the Islanders have consistently been not good enough or frequent enough.
“It's all about consistency in this league, and that's why the best teams are at the top, said Bo Horvat. “Right now, this win one, lose one thing is not going to do us any favors here going forward. If we continue to do this, we're not going to move up the standings, so it's on us in here to get the ball rolling here.”
