How unlucky can a hockey team get?

I write this column seeking the best way to cope with such disappointing play on the ice. Who can I blame? I can’t bring myself to make irrational arguments against head coach Barry Trotz, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, general manager Lou Lamoriello, or anybody else, so long as my byline sits at the top of this website. It’s not all the Islanders’ fault. There’s a lot outside of their control. A ton, actually.

First, a global pandemic delays the construction of the Islanders’ new arena long enough to force them to play 13 straight games on the road to start the season.

The Islanders lose their first two games of the season but come away with a 5-2-2 record after their first nine games of the road trip. But they blow a 2-1 lead against the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 7 and everything starts spiraling out of control.

They pummel the New Jersey Devils with 42 shots on Nov. 11, but can’t beat a red-hot MacKenzie Blackwood. They blow another lead the following Monday and lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. Ryan Pulock sustains a lower-body injury and is out for 4-6 weeks.

Then the pandemic catches back up to them. Josh Bailey catches COVID-19, forcing more lineup changes for a team that already can’t find the back of the net. They allow four first period goals to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 16 and lose 6-1.

But hope is on the horizon. The road trip is over and the Isles can come home to UBS Arena. Well, it turns out only a third of them can.

Captain Anders Lee and Ross Johnston first. Then defensive stalwart Adam Pelech, veteran Andy Greene and the speedy Anthony Beauvillier. All five Islanders entered COVID-19 protocol, the latter three within hours of Saturday’s puck drop. These are backbones of the roster, and they had to watch the Isles drop their home opener, 5-2 against the Calgary Flames, from isolation. The Islanders play well, especially in the third period, but can’t find a way to tie the game and force overtime. Calgary scores two empty netters in the final two minutes.

But a glimmer of hope. Turns out Beauvillier’s positive test result was false (imagine if the Islanders knew that a day earlier). But Kieffer Bellows’ positive test was accurate, and he missed Sunday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Islanders couldn’t score a single goal. The Identity Line lacked any identity. The power play allowed another shorthanded goal. Toronto outshot the Islanders 2:1. It was embarrassing to watch.

Now what? Bailey won’t be back until at least Friday, assuming he’s asymptomatic. Brock Nelson is now out with a lower-body injury. Considering Bellows tested positive before Sunday’s game, the Islanders could have more positive tests before they play the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

Does the NHL step in and postpone some games, even though it’s UBS Arena’s opening week? I seriously doubt it, and I wouldn’t be upset if they didn’t. What if all those players happened to go down with physical injuries? We’d have to deal with it and find a way to win. You can’t use COVID-19 as an excuse anymore.

The Islanders just can’t catch a break, on or off the ice. Whether it’s the puck rolling off Anthony Beauvillier’s stick on a breakaway or another Islanders player getting injured or catching COVID-19, nothing is going right. I’d never thought I’d be writing this, let alone this early in the season, but the Islanders are in a free fall.

I guess the only positive for now is that all this is happening at the beginning of the season and not the end of it. A 5-6-2 road record is not bad considering the Islanders played all 13 of those games consecutively. An 0-2 start at home is fixable. There are 67 games left. Robin Salo, Noah Dobson, and arguably Zdeno Chara all look really good on defense lately. But with the Islanders practically icing an AHL roster at this point, and with a tough divisional schedule on the horizon, they’ll have to look really hard if they want to find a way to win.

I’d say that a Rangers game should pump the Islanders up. But I thought the same thing for the opening of UBS Arena and for John Tavares’ first visit to what could have been his home. Nothing’s guaranteed considering the team that’s on the ice right now.

This should have been a festive week for Islanders fans, but I think I speak for the fanbase when I say that we’re frustrated. All we wanted was to lift our team to a win in a beautiful new arena after a long, hard-fought road trip. But we’ll have to wait until at least Wednesday to do that.

Aside from one or two of the Islanders’ six straight losses, I attribute this losing streak and all the reasons behind it to COVID-19. There’s nothing anyone can do about that.

So what am I going to do? It’s what anyone should do when faced with circumstances outside their control. None of us can run onto the ice and play better hockey than the team out there now. If we love the Islanders, which I hope we all do, we’ll keep showing up to UBS Arena this week and give this team everything we’ve got. I know I will.

It’s easier said than done, but I’ll always believe. You should too.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.