Islanders try to rebound after poor start

BOSTON -- There are moments when they see what they could be. Then there are moments when they see what they could be is not what they are. There are the late goals and the missed assignments, the overtime losses and the special teams miscues, the goaltending problems and the frustration that comes with it all.
At the end of last season, the New York Islanders were among the best teams in the NHL, finishing the regular season with 100 points, 10th in the League. They took the first wild-card spot from the Eastern Conference into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and proceeded to knock out the Atlantic Division's top team, the Florida Panthers, in the first round before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But everything has come crashing down this season.
"We're certainly handling it," captain John Tavares said before the Islanders ended their five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at TD Garden. "I think we have the right attitude and work ethic, and guys obviously are competing and trying to get the results. It's certainly not been to the level of the standard that we have.
"It can be frustrating at times, but I think it's just trying to channel that the right way and find a way to overcome it. You face adversity throughout life and in the game, and we're having one of those starts to our season."

At 12-14-6, the Islanders are last in the Eastern Conference with 30 points in 32 games. Before their win at Boston, they had earned one point in their five previous games. At the same time they were sinking, they'd watched most of their rivals in the Metropolitan Division soar, opening a gap that seems insurmountable even before the New Year.
But as multiple players pointed out, there are still 50 games to go. There is still time to right the team. There can still be hope, as there was after the victory on Tuesday. There was relief there as well.
As defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said, "Coming off of five losses in a row, winning this game tonight was big, especially going into the third period, trying to hold onto the win. Hopefully it's a right step in the right direction."
But there were also worrisome moments. The Islanders built a 3-0 lead through two periods before allowing two goals that got the Bruins back in the game. It's one of the issues that has plagued New York all season, an inability to stop teams in the third period, when they have allowed 40 goals and scored 29. They lost at the Buffalo Sabres in overtime Friday after allowing a game-tying third-period goal, to the Blackhawks on a third-period goal on Thursday, to the Washington Capitals on two third-period goals on Dec. 13.
There was also good, like the goaltending of Thomas Greiss. It's a position that has been a weakness this season, one of the reasons why the Islanders have faltered. But Greiss made 48 saves, including 21 in that final period. The Islanders have struggled to find a starting goaltender they can rely on; they are carrying three on their roaster in Greiss (2.61 goals-against average, .918 save percentage), Jaroslav Halak (3.13, .907), and J-F Berube (3.39, .900 in two games).

There have been other reasons too, outside of the way the team has played, outside of the third-period problems and the weakness on special teams and the goaltending. The Islanders lost forwards Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo and Matt Martin as free agents in the offseason. They added forward Andrew Ladd, who was signed to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract on July 1. But Ladd has struggled; he has four goals and three assists in 31 games after finishing last season with 25 goals and 21 assists.
"It's an excuse you can use, I guess, but you don't need to use an excuse," defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. "This is your job. You get to play hockey for a living. You have to do your best. We know that our record could be way better than what it shows and people might use that as an excuse, but at the end of the day this is your job and you get to play the game you love for a living. Take pride in it."
Even with that playing on their minds, it has been a challenge for the Islanders to find their way, and an equal challenge for the coaching staff to find the right message, the right ideas to impart.
"You've just got to stay positive," coach Jack Capuano said. "The last thing as a coaching staff to do is beat guys up. You just can't do it. We know that we have to be better in net. We know that our special teams have to be better. We take a lot of pride in that."

For one night, at least, those things were better. The message had gotten through. The Islanders scored on the power play. They stood firm on the penalty kill. They got two much-needed points. But it was still far from perfect.
"At the end of the day, there's just a few certain areas in our game that we have to be better at," Capuano said. "And the players know that. I think they've held each other accountable, they've done a good job of that. But you have to dig deep as players and try to do the best you can to get yourself out of this, and that's all they can do."
So, is there light for the Islanders? Is there a sense that there's a turning point ahead?
"I think so," Boychuk said. "There has to be."