As the month of December hits and the weather starts to act like winter, the New York Islanders enter the Christmas season not feeling very merry. There are good games, but the majority of play from the Islanders has not been up to the standards that Head Coach Patrick Roy set at the beginning of the season. With the most critical time of any season approaching, the New York Islanders will need to defeat conference opponents to jump back into the playoff race.

Defeating the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday was a good start, but the Sabres haven’t been the team that everyone thought they were finally going to be. Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff was supposed to have this team above .500, but the Sabres enter December at 11-11-2. Yes, they are in fifth place of the Atlantic Division with 24 points and only three points back in the Atlantic, but they have the same amount of points as the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Islanders, themselves. The Penguins and Islanders are tied for worst in the Metropolitan Division which shows how competitive the Metropolitan is while the Atlantic is very top heavy.

You would think that this would be a good thing for the Islanders that they are tied with a team sitting around fifth place in the Atlantic, but with a 9-10-6 record, the Islanders are well behind the rest of the Eastern Conference. Coming off a frustrating road trip before Thanksgiving week, the Islanders returned home to feel the gratitude of home ice. However, the Islanders went 2-2-0 in the four home games and blew a two-goal lead in Washington during the week. They have let the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets jump ahead of them in Metropolitan with this performance.

The Flyers and Blue Jackets are currently in rebuilding stages of their franchises. Even though the Islanders should finish above both of them by the end of the season, they shouldn’t be sitting below them at this point in the season. Both the Flyers and Blue Jackets have played very well to get above .500 to give them credit, but the Islanders don’t have an excuse to be under .500. Injuries have plagued the team, but guys need to step up and that just hasn’t happened. Pierre Engvall had a couple of good games, but then he wasn’t putting in the effort, according to Roy, so he was a healthy scratch against Buffalo. “When he plays his best, he goes to the net like he did before,” Roy said of Engvall. “When he plays on the outside, I’m not as crazy about him. Hopefully this will send the message.”

With the Islanders set to face the Carolina Hurricanes and Penguins twice in December, they will need to get things together as losses to division opponents will make it even harder to force their way into the playoffs, let alone a deep playoff run. The New York Islanders will head to Montreal tomorrow night before returning to UBS Arena to host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. They will finish up the first week of December with the Hurricanes in Long Island on Saturday then back to Ottawa on Sunday afternoon. As they approach the most critical part of the NHL season, the Islanders look to get healthy and gain ground in the Metropolitan Division in the race for the NHL playoffs.

Featured image courtesy of Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images.

Andrew Nowel

Andrew Nowel is a hockey nerd and has been following the game for many years. He grew up a Devils fan because of his Dad and also roots for the Penguins and has been rooting for them since he was in 4th grade. Andrew is currently in college studying Journalism and Business with a concentration in Sports Production and Broadcasting at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.