NFT: Islanders - Red Wings 5pm Game Thread

I'll apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this post.

I'll be the first to acknowledge this skid is not fun to endure, but my advice is to just breathe. Every team, no matter how good, endures them. We don't get to pick the times they occur. But there is plenty of evidence going back the past 12 years or so where the eventual Cup winners had to deal with these same rough patches, and quite a few at the end of the season. Bright side: even with a loss today, the Isles are still in the playoffs, and actually are very much alive for home ice.

Food for thought. While not "the" answer, a contributing factor has been the Isles season-long poor PDO, which has only worsened during this slide. A PDO of 100 is the norm. PDO is a stat that generally helps to understand the role luck plays in a game, so having a low PDO over a cold streak would generally indicate that a team is getting unlucky. If the Islanders’ 95 PDO (the number during this stretch of bad games) was the number that represented their entire regular season, they would have the worst PDO in the league by far. But here's some silver lining. The Islanders still have a 99.4 percent chance at the playoffs and this slump has only had a .4 percent negative impact on those chances (previously 99.8%).

Look, as a fan, it infuriates me to be on the short end of these games. But I know - and you do, too - that this team has been one of the league's best teams (and in many important categories, an elite team) this whole year. No one thought this was a bad team when we were rolling from the initial drop through January. It's not a bad team now. They just need a game where they get their bounces and have an avalanche of goals. It'll happen, but they need to continue to work hard to create their own luck.

I think if I viewed the recent run solely as a fan, I may be apopleptic. But as someone that's played sports my whole life, and at the D1 level as well and who is also a coach, you have to realize that the same actions that got you here are the ones that are going to carry you through to the next level. Drastic changes and alterations to style in a slump only deepen the spiral. While it sucks for us to have to watch it unfold, bottom line is that the boys will pull themselves out of it. They're too good not to. Just have faith, since they do as they believe in themselves. Stay the course. I know, easier said than done. What's harder is that we see how good they have been, and add to it the drama and sentiment that this is the last season at NVMC, and it's tough to keep emotions in check.

Onto the game. Halak to get the start. No news on lines or d-pairs, but the health of certain guys will dictate that (ex: Grabs likely would have been in yesterday but was ill; perhaps that changes today).

JT knows he's been kept off the scoresheet and has been guilty of some lapses...but he knows that changing that starts with him:

Quote:

"It starts with me. A lot of guys look to me for the way we need to play. I think you have that responsibility as captain. So I accept that challenge and what comes with that.''

Fransie has the right outlook:

Quote:

“We have to keep playing hard, keep playing for each other. I know we’re going to come out of this. This is tough now, but this is going to make it so much more fun when we get out of it and hopefully make a really good run in the playoffs. We have to embrace the pain right now cause I know we’re going to come out of it and it’s going to feel even better once we start winning again.”

Young 'uns notes:
- C.J. Motte, fresh out of Ferris State, won his debut in goal for BPT by defeating Binghamton, 4-1
- Some coverage of BU D-man Doyle Somerby, who has made his way to the Frozen Four:

Quote:

Isles fans note: 2012 5th-rd pick Doyle Somerby appears to have improved by leaps and bounds, judging by play in NCAA tourney. Somerby started play that led to OT goal Friday and leveled opposing forward in neutral zone today by stepping up.

And for those of you like me that didn't have cable growing up and listened to tons of radio broadcasts, Barry Landers, the radio voice of the Isles 1981-97, is guest announcer for one final time on today's radio broadcast.

Let's Go Islanders!

It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race