Caps Stun Isles and Win in Overtime

To be honest, I am not sure where to begin here.

The Islanders suffered their most crushing defeat of the season, falling 3-2 to the eighth place Washington Capitals in overtime. The Isles had the lead for 57 minutes before surrendering 2 goals to Troy Brouwer, including one with approximately 30 seconds left. In overtime, a Josh Bailey turnover around the blueline led to an Alex Ovechkin one-on-one matchup with Travis Hamonic. Ovechkin drove it past Hamonic and through the legs of Evgeni Nabokov to give the Capitals a shocking win.

This is the seventh time this season the Islanders have blown a two-goal lead and lost. It also happens to have come at a critical time in the season, pushing the Isles nine points back of the 8th seed with 5 teams to jump and just 19 games left to play. With an extremely tough March schedule, the Islanders will have to play a prolonged stretch of beyond incredible hockey to even have a chance at approaching the playoff race.

At this point, the direction of the season must turn to development. Questions must be asked as to why Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner, and Josh Bailey have had invisible stretches. While it is expected for players under 23 to be inconsistent at the NHL level, it is also expected that an NHL coach can correctly develop them and rectify mistakes. Since Jack Capuano has taken charge, we have seen these players regress after showing promising signs early in their careers.

The Islanders need to find out what they have, and how that can be applied to next season. Evaluations must be completed and analyzed with regards to who belongs on an NHL roster next season. But only so much can be evaluated with a minor league coach coaching underdeveloped players.

It is clear a culture change is needed on Long Island. It is not only evident, it is now imperative as the Isles are looking at a potential fifth straight trip to the draft lottery. After years of rebuilding, hope is starting to fade into the distance as the team continues to lose in heartbreaking fashion with no improvements made to the roster.

The Islanders are playing a game where "Moneypuck" has become an art form, but the artist is only drawing a stencil of what the final product should look like. Management is relying on prospects, elder statesmen, and retreads to play big roles for a team that is still trying to find it's own way. There seems to be neither any direction nor capital to take the next step. And there seems to be an attitude from the top that winning is more of a convenience than a necessity. Until that changes, the pattern won't - and an endless cycle of hopeful Septembers and disappointing Februarys will continue.

So as we leave February and enter March, the only reaction to a game like this is the same one we've been having for years.

There's always next year.

-CH