The New York Islanders are hoping that the NHL regular season resumes in some form because as things stand, the Isles would just barely miss out on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let’s take a closer look at their season along with NHL Odds and Stanley Cup Odds.
New York Islanders 2020 NHL Season Analysis
Season Recap
The Islanders had 80 points when the season was suspended – that was just point one behind the two Wild-Card teams, Carolina and Columbus. New York was playing horrible when the break came, though, losing seven in a row and 11 of 13.
The team’s final game before the break was a 5-4 shootout loss in Vancouver on March 10. J.T. Miller scored the only goal in the shootout. Brock Nelson had a pair of goals for the Islanders, whose seven-game winless streak was a season-high. Andrew Ladd and Jordan Eberle also scored for New York. Ladd’s goal was his first since Oct. 30, 2018. He has only played 21 games in that time due to injuries. Derick Brassard had two assists. Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots.
“It seems like we’re close,” said Nelson after that loss. Nelson has posted a career-best 26 goals and 54 points this season. “We’ve just got to find that play that gets us over the hump and turns it around. Right now, it’s tough. It seems like everything is kind of stacked up against us. You find a way to get a lead and they battle back.”
The Islanders were only 19-20-8 since their 15-0-2 streak near the start of the season. The Islanders were on fire from mid-October until Thanksgiving but have been a mediocre team since then. The Islanders started the season 7-0-0 against the Metro becoming the 11th team in NHL history to open the season with at least seven consecutive wins against divisional opponents.
The injury to Casey Cizikas has really taken a toll on the team as the Isles are 2-7-4 since he had his leg lacerated by the skate of Ivan Provorov. Cizikas had has 10 goals and 14 points in 48 contests this season. He’s healthy now. He leads the Islanders with a plus-26 rating this season and is tied for second with three game-winning goals.
In addition, should the season return in any form, blueliner Johnny Boychuk is set to return. He was cut by a skate blade on March 3 and needed 90 stitches around his eye as well as plastic surgery.
The Islanders are 6-0-0 when being held to 20-shots or fewer this season, marking the first time in franchise history that has happened
If there is no resolution to this season, the Islanders’ time in Brooklyn is over. After splitting their home schedule the past two seasons, the Isles will be making their Long Island return a full year early, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “The Islanders should be on Long Island,” Cuomo said, announcing all 2020-21 games would be played at the Nassau Coliseum until the new Belmont Park project is ready.
Construction of Belmont Park stopped recently due to the coronavirus as Cuomo has put a pause on all “non-essential construction” and put a focus on the building of four new hospitals. It’s not clear when construction of Belmont Park can resume. Richard Browne, who is the Managing Partner of Sterling Project Development, said that Belmont Park can still be finished in time for the 2021-22 campaign “if construction restarts within a reasonable period.”
New York Islanders odds to win Stanley Cup
The Isles are +4000 to win their fifth Cup and first since way back in 1983.
