Islanders having another November swoon
John Tavares of the Islanders waits to take a face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nassau Coliseum. (Oct. 5, 2013) Credit: Jim McIsaac
MONTREAL-- Is this becoming yet another long Islanders November?
With Sunday night's 4-2 loss to the Canadiens, the Isles are 2-4-0 in November, emphasis on that middle number, since they¹ve lost four straight.
November has been the worst Isles month over the past three seasons -- with February of last season standing in for a usual November, since the season started in January. But the pattern persisted even through the 48-game schedule: A decent, uneven but mostly positive start, followed by
a collapse.
This year's Isles were supposed to be different. They were supposed to have learned from the mistakes of 2010-11, when Scott Gordon was fired in November during the horrific 1-17-3 slide. They should have learned from
2011-12, when a 4-7-2 November essentially killed their hoped-for breakout season, with their key players at full health.
Last season, they did get it figured out, at least well enough to get into the No. 8 seed and a playoff spot with an 11-2-4 finish.
But those sorts of mad dashes are rare in the NHL. The standings numbers don¹t lie: It¹s near impossible to get off the mat if you¹re four or more points out by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.
The Isles have benefited from every Metropolitan Division team -- save the Penguins -- struggling through the first month, but the Caps and the Rangers are starting to get themselves sorted out.
That makes Saturday's loss so tough to take. Columbus came in with zero confidence, having lost five straight; the Isles didn't play well by any means through 40 minutes, but they were tied, which meant they could have gutted out a point or two.
Against the Blue Jackets on Saturday, they were done just 3:24 into the third, down two goals after a retaliation penalty by Travis Hamonic (whatever you think of the call, Hamonic can't put it on a judgment decision by the ref) and a miserably-played three-on-three rush.
Isles' recent November records:
09-10 -- 7-6-2
10-11 -- 1-7-3
11-12 -- 4-7-2
12-13* -- 4-9-1
13-14 -- 2-4-0
(* -- was actually February due to lockout)
