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The New York Islanders suffered losses in both games of their weekend back-to-back set, being shut out by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, before falling 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday.
Against the Lightning, the Islanders let the game slip away in the second period, despite putting 20 shots on goal in the frame. They found themselves down 4-0 after 40 minutes, and couldn’t get a ton going in the final frame, suffering a 5-0 loss.
Then yesterday, the Hurricanes controlled a lot of the game. While New York hung around, they managed just 22 shots and after Carolina took the lead in the third period off a goal from Jordan Martinook on a rush, the Islanders couldn’t recover.
Despite the relatively high quality of competition and the fact that it was already a back-to-back on the road, it's still disappointing to come away from the set of games empty-handed. No matter how you look at the losses, the team scored a single goal over an extremely important weekend back-to-back.
New York was also without Alexander Romanov yesterday, who's listed as day-to-day. Romanov looked to have hurt his arm against the Lightning on Saturday, but did still play the third period. Hopefully he's fine for Thursday.
With the losses, the Islanders' lead in the wild card race has all but evaporated. They’re now one point up on the Pittsburgh Penguins and two points up on the Florida Panthers, but have played one more game than each team.
The Islanders do have a favourable schedule for their last four games, with three of them coming at home. Of the four, three will also come against non-playoff teams, as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.
However, the Panthers (who are now on a three-game win streak), play four of their last five games at home, with three of them coming against non-playoff teams. The Penguins only play two of their last five games at home, but three of those will also come against non-playoff teams.
In other news, the Islanders did also sign two free agents out of the NCAA on Friday. The team inked defensemen Aidan Fulp and Travis Mitchell to two-year contracts, which will kick in next year.
Fulp was a finalist for NCHC defensive defenseman of the year with Western Michigan University, where he scored 15 points in 38 games. Mitchell spent the last three seasons with Cornell University and this season, he scored 19 points in 34 games. Both defensemen are currently 23 years old.
The Islanders will be back in action on Thursday, as they face the Lightning in another crucial matchup.
QuizMaker 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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