Win Or Go Home For New York...

I did not expect the New York Islanders to be a contending team in 2022-23. In a normal NHL season of 82 games it would play out like last year where you had to be 18-20 games over five hundred to qualify for a lower seed. That did not happen this year, in a slight repeat of 2002-03 (with ties) where NYI won 6/26 games down the stretch but still got the eighth seed a game over 500 with 83 points. We know it has not worked offensively, with even Horvat at center not justifying a contract that does not begin until next year, with a 38 year old who got several bounces to inflate his numbers, Hudson Fashing, and an offense that comes down to Brock Nelson, a slight burst from Palmieri already likely over, and Anders Lee who's struggling again, and the identity line back in offensive hiding.