They are five games that have essentially doomed the Islanders season not even a quarter of the way through. Five late-game regulation losses, including back to back in the last two stops of this past week’s California road trip, that have the Islanders in must-win mode before we’ve even reached December.
Forget that, actually: It’s must-run-off-six-straight-wins mode for the 30th-place Isles to even think about the playoffs.
“I’ve never been on a team that’s had this happen,” said Jason Chimera, who was on some lousy Oilers and Blue Jackets teams during his 16-year career. “I’ve never seen anything like this.