The Islanders have a winning record. They are coming off a 101-point season and are playing at a level that should keep them in the playoff race all season.
But more than a quarter of the way into their first season at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Islanders are 28th in attendance in the 30-team league, with an average of 12,408 tickets sold through 12 games, less than four-fifths of capacity.
Against the conference-leading Montreal Canadiens on Friday, the arena had swaths of red-clad fans rooting for the visitors. They yelled, “Go, Habs, go” after each Montreal goal as the Canadiens skated to a 5-3 victory.