News from Islanders Gameday: Hoping to bounce back in Buffalo…

They weren’t going to consistently win six straight games. Not every game can be won by them. They had to make a detour in Buffalo before returning home after taking a plane back from the West Coast. However, the New York Islanders yesterday night appeared as though they had just stepped off the aircraft.

To be sure, the Buffalo Sabres played with a great deal of desperation, and it was likely a more critical game for them. But the Islanders also had a stake in the outcome of the game. If they had at least pretended that the game mattered, or that they had a game at all, it would have been simpler to accept a loss. They had the opportunity to close the gap on the Flyers and defeat the Red Wings.

Two weeks ago, they pulled the same stunt in another Most Important Game of the Year against the Tampa Bay Lightning. We moved past the no-shows, in my opinion, following this winning run, during which they performed tenaciously and with newfound vigor under Patrick Roy.

In fact, even Monday night in Los Angeles was better despite being shut out. It appears that we are not over them, and at this rate, we can fairly anticipate that it will occur at least once or twice more. As always, I would be overjoyed to be proven incorrect. I am really angry about this squad. Roy was more enraged by them than he had been before: