NY Islanders Gameday News: When Black Friday Comes

I hope all of our American friends had a great Thanksgiving and our Canadian friends had a great Thursday at work, catching up on updates on their phones and wondering aloud, “Why is football on at 1:30 p.m.?” Oh yes, that’s right.”

We’re so grateful to our New York Islanders, aren’t we? We can be grateful to them again this afternoon as they visit Washington, DC, where President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November 1863 to be a national “Day of Thanksgiving.” They face the Washington Capitals, who are one of the best teams in the league, which I don’t think anyone predicted. I still think they’ll fall back to earth a little at some point during the season, but the Capitals put up a lot of points and didn’t get in entirely by accident; They were good. They are still without captain Alex Ovechkin, who is dealing with a broken leg that prevented promotion earlier in the season, likely due to Wayne Gretzky’s goal tally.

As we all know, the Islanders were anything but “good.” Certainly good for parts of games. Sometimes even a large part of the game. But usually not towards the end and certainly not at all at the end of it when you look at the scoreboard. They may have scored in 13 of their 23 games, but they also only have eight wins in 23 games in a season in which they are sure to have a record as absurd as last season, currently 8-10-5.

American Thanksgiving essentially marks the quarter pole of the NHL, and by now we usually have a good idea of ​​how the standings are shaping up. It’s a good time for a heat check. The Isles’ game at American Thanksgiving has put them in the unfortunate position of being just three points away from a wild card spot, making them not out of it, but also three points out of 32 in the NHL and tied for sixth -Percentage with worst points. Considering how many points they gave up as leaders, the Islanders could theoretically contend for first place in the division. Instead, they are – generously – a bubble team.

FIG picks can be found here. Have fun shopping.

Islanders News

On Thanksgiving Eve with the Bruins:

• It is what it is. (LHH)
• This time it was a bad start and a bad end. (islander)
• This time they didn’t give up a lead, so that’s something new. (news day)
• They came back to tie the game twice, but the third period was still their undoing. (NY Post)
• “With the tie after 40 minutes, the Isles are 1-3-4.” (NYI Skinny)

Further:

• Patrick Roy tries to stay optimistic. (news day)
• A big problem is that only one line scores. The Nelson line is rolling, but every other line is ice cold. (THN)
• Oliver Wahlstrom still doesn’t seem to be finding his feet and seems to be out of touch with his third straight NHL coach. (NY Post)

• Another question and another question, this time with players’ favorite Thanksgiving sides.

Elsewhere

• There was no hockey yesterday, but Wednesday night there were 15 games, including one loss each for the Devils and Rangers.
• How the friendship between the late Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan lives on. (Sportsnet)
• What do the islanders and sharks have in common? Both lost a game in regulation time despite only taking 11 shots, but the culprit in San Jose wasn’t the offense; it was goalkeeper. (TSN)
• The new episode of 32 Thoughts explores the fire the Rangers find themselves under due to Jimmy D waking up from his latest coma.