They said they did a lot of good things. They said they were the better team. They said there were some bad bounces.
To which we say: Does it matter?
It’s over for the 2024-25 Islanders, who lost to the Rangers 5-1 on Tuesday.
Yes, they had the better scoring chances. Yes, they did some good things. Yes, they probably were the better team. And yes, it means exactly squat. They’ve lost four in a row, two on either side of the 4 Nations break, and given up 19 goals in those four losses. Ilya Sorokin, the one Islander who could steal points at this time of the year, was pulled on Tuesday after five Rangers goals on 11 shots.
“If I tell you he had a good game,” Patrick Roy said, “you’d tell me I’m full of —-.”
The Islanders are seven points from a playoff spot. They are four points from the bottom of the Eastern Conference. With 25 games to go and an increasing number of points and teams to overcome, that is all the discussion one needs to have.
They have been playing not just for their playoff lives these last few weeks but for the continued existence of this long-standing core. They have not quit and they have not given in to frustration, but there isn’t anything more to be done: Lou Lamoriello has said often that your team tells you what to do at the trade deadline and the Islanders have said their piece the last four games.
So what’s next?
GO FURTHER
The New York Islanders’ season is over. What comes next?
