RALEIGH, N.C. — The Islanders have four days now to figure this thing out, four days they must take advantage of before getting back into action Thursday at home against the Maple Leafs.
The extended break is something of a makeup after a schedule that has been condensed all year, and will allow other teams to make up games in hand. That means by Thursday, there is a very good chance the Islanders — currently third in the Metro despite their 4-3 loss to Carolina on Saturday night — will be out of a playoff spot.
After losing four straight games, a season high, and looking completely overwhelmed by the Hurricanes on Saturday, the break is at least coming at a decent time.
A mental reset certainly seems to be something this team needs right now. So does some practice time.
“We have some time off, the holiday. See family, spend some time,” Scott Mayfield said. “We’ll think about this one on the way home, wash it. It’s all about the next game. We gotta start getting some points to stay in our position.
“I don’t know what the other scores are but you can’t drop games like this. We haven’t done four in a row I think all season. It’s not a good week to do that but you can’t change that now.”
Matthew Schaefer’s late assist on Anders Lee’s goal gave him the record for most points ever by an 18-year-old defenseman, passing Phil Housley’s 57.
Roy’s move to insert Max Shabanov into the lineup for just his third game since the Olympic break paid off when Shabanov scored for the first time since Dec. 27.
Isaiah George also drew in for the Islanders, with Adam Boqvist and Kyle MacLean coming out as healthy scratches.
Perhaps the only good news for the Islanders on Saturday came on the out-of-town scoreboard. The Red Wings, Senators and Blue Jackets all lost, though the Capitals did climb into the outer fringe of the playoff race with a win and the Penguins now seem out of reach after their victory over Florida.
The bad news is that the Islanders still do not control their own destiny, leading Detroit, Columbus, Ottawa and Philadelphia all by a point with one extra game played.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
