Islanders' 10 most damaging losses that led to second straight season without the playoffs
New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy against the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena on April 3, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Islanders’ season will end after Tuesday night’s match against the Hurricanes at UBS Arena with a second straight playoff miss.
They stumbled to the finish losing nine of their last 13 and were eliminated with a 4-1 defeat to the playoff-bound Canadiens on Sunday night. It was a second straight loss under new coach Pete DeBoer, who took over with four games remaining after Patrick Roy was fired following a 4-3 loss in Carolina on April 4.
That the Islanders remained in the thick of the playoff chase for so long was a direct result of their NHL-best 10-0 record in three-on-three overtimes. They are the first team in league history to win their first 10 overtime games (not including shootouts).
But that accomplishment was offset by bad, self-inflicted losses.
Here’s a look at 10 of those:
Oct. 30 — 6-2 in Carolina
Sure, the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes are very good, but Mathew Barzal was held out of the lineup for disciplinary reasons after coming late to the morning skate. Cal Ritchie’s flight from New York after being recalled from AHL Bridgeport was canceled because of poor weather so his Islanders debut was delayed a day. Defenseman Adam Boqvist was pressed into service as a forward with Max Shabanov sidelined. And David Rittich allowed three goals on the first eight shots he faced.
Dec. 19 — 4-1 to Canucks at UBS Arena
The rested Islanders wasted an early five-on-three power play as the Canucks, who entered the match last in the Western Conference, went on to score three times in the first period against the turnover-prone hosts. Kiefer Sherwood completed his hat trick with an empty-netter.
Jan. 1 — 7-2 to Mammoth at UBS Arena
The Islanders took the match’s first 11 shots then did little else over the final 50 minutes as they reached the midpoint of the season. Dylan Guenther opened the scoring 36 seconds into the second period on Utah’s first five-on-five shot as Rittich, making his sixth straight start with Ilya Sorokin out with a lower-body injury, was eventually pulled in favor of Marcus Hogberg.
Jan. 21 — 4-1 in Seattle
The Islanders opened the scoring on Anthony Duclair’s power-play goal at 2:38 of the first period but were unable to score on six subsequent man-advantage opportunities against the Kraken’s NHL-worst penalty kill. The seven power plays are the most the Islanders have had in a game this season.
Jan. 24 — 5-0 to Sabres at UBS Arena
The Islanders were dominated after returning home from a 3-3-1 road trip. Roy benched Barzal’s line with Duclair and Anders Lee in the third period after Barzal and Duclair were deficient in backchecking on Tage Thompson’s backbreaking goal with 12.9 seconds left in the second period to put the Sabres ahead 2-0.
March 4 — 5-1 in Anaheim
Lee opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 4:58 of the first period but the Ducks led 3-1 by the first intermission. It marked a fourth straight game the Islanders had faced at least a two-goal deficit as they had a five-game winning streak snapped.
March 21 — 7-3 in Montreal
The Islanders had no answer for the Canadiens’ top line of Nick Suzuki (four assists), Cole Caufield (three goals, two assists) and Juraj Slafkovsky (two goals, two assists) and collapsed in the third period, yielding four goals as Sorokin was finally pulled after giving up six.
March 24 — 4-3 to Chicago at UBS Arena
The Islanders briefly fell out of a playoff spot as leaky defense doomed them against draft lottery-bound Chicago. This despite outshooting Chicago 47-24, including 23-5 in the third period after falling behind 4-1.
March 30 — 8-3 to Penguins at UBS Arena
The Penguins jumped past the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division with a five-goal third period thanks to numerous odd-man rushes. The Islanders could not hold a pair of two-goal leads with a chance to build a lead in the standings.
April 3 — 4-1 to Flyers at UBS Arena
The Islanders lost control of their playoff destiny as defense was again a major issue. The Flyers, playing on back-to-back nights, led 3-0 at 2:52 of the second period on the second shaky goal Sorokin allowed.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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