TAMPA — The calendar is not a friend of the Tampa Bay Lightning these days.
History suggests that being outside the playoff picture at the end of November makes for a difficult climb up the standings.
But that’s the position Tampa Bay finds itself in after closing out the second month of the season with a 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
The loss drops the Lightning three points behind the Islanders in the wild-card standings and two points behind Detroit for the final wild-card spot 25 games into the season.
Tampa Bay has dropped two consecutive games after winning a three consecutive after John Tavares converted a power-play chance with 3:36 to play as the Islanders scored three consecutive goals.