After Reflecting on Season, Islanders Maintain Belief in Core Group

Clean out day came too early for the New York Islanders this season.
After two trips to the third round of the playoffs, and three-straight second round appearances, the Islanders found themselves on the outside looking in and packing their bags one day after the conclusion of the regular season.
"It was disappointing. I think all of us are in the same boat as far as that feeling," Kyle Palmieri said. "It was on all of us and we have to find a way to get things done even when things aren't going well. And we weren't able to do that."

The Islanders went 37-35-10 this season, finishing fifth in the Metropolitan Division, 16 points back of the Washington Capitals for the second Wild Card. It marked the first time since the 2017-18 season - and first time under the leadership of Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz - the Islanders missed the postseason.
"I think we can take a lot from it and learn from it," Ryan Pulock said. "It's going be a long offseason that we haven't had in a few years… For us to be on the outside this year and not be a part of that I think it's really going to sink in and what we're missing and really drive us to get back there next year."

The Islanders started to analyze their bizarre season during Saturday's exit interviews at Northwell Health Ice Center, reflecting on some of the factors, both internal and external. While each of the past three seasons have presented their fair share of challenges, there were plenty of outside factors working against the Islanders in the 2021-22 season. There was the 13-game road trip to start the season, injuries and COVID absences, as well as a schedule that featured plenty of gaps, postponements, and a punishing finish, with 33 games in the final 60 days of the season. The team's 11-game winless streak (0-8-3) from Nov. 7 to Dec. 5 put the Islanders behind the eight ball by early December.
"At the end of the day, we just didn't we didn't perform when we needed to and play the hockey that we needed to at the right time," captain Anders Lee said. "I think we did everything we could to prepare to be our best and there were times where we didn't necessarily ham and egg it. We all seem to be down at the same time or you know, going well at the same time."
Despite all of the adversity of a bizarre season, the Islanders weren't reaching for excuses on clean out day.
"It was just too inconsistent especially for us," Cal Clutterbuck said. "Our thing has been kind of been like, you know what you're getting every day and it wasn't like. This year really was challenging in a lot of ways. Obviously, we didn't handle the challenges well enough, but in a challenging year, what I really saw was [the team] being great professionals and playing hard to the very end."

The Islanders game picked up in the second half of the season, lending credence to the belief in the locker room. The Islanders went 16-11-2 in their last 29 games and saw a significant offensive improvement after the All-Star break, upping their goals-per-game from 2.4 before the break to 3.2 after.
From March 1 on, the Islanders had the league's fourth-best power play (29.3%) and top-ranked penalty kill (86.3%). For the season as a whole, the Islanders 2.78 goals-against per game ranked seventh, suggesting the team's defensive foundation is still in place.
"Once we were able to get settled later in the year, we put some games together with kind of the same lineup I thought we did a pretty good job," Pulock said. "If you look at our last couple months of the season for the team as a whole, our record was pretty decent. We played the right way most nights. Obviously can always be better. I mean, we never we weren't able to do what we wanted to do. But you know, I think we were able to settle in and you guys were able to get comfortable in their roles and did a lot better job at the second part of the season."
Management gave the players a vote of confidence at the trade deadline, keeping the group together and extending Cal Clutterbuck and Zach Parise. Zdeno Chara and Andy Greene's futures are up in the air with their respective contracts expiring, but the core of the team is likely to return.

"I can tell you this core group does believe that there's a good hockey team here," Head Coach Barry Trotz said following Thursday's 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
The Islanders plan to use this summer to recharge after having a pair of short offseasons after grueling playoff runs. Anthony Beauvillier said he planned to watch the playoffs, which will only serve as motivation. The group that came within one win of a Stanley Cup Final berth a year ago wants a chance to redeem themselves next season.
"Our core is one that has been together for a long time, we believe in one another, we've been through a lot together," Lee said "We've been through good runs and bad runs. We've grown up together in many ways. The belief, none of that has changed. I think it's just getting back to what makes us successful. Having a little bit of a summer to reset the mind, reset the bodies and learn from all this stuff that we've gone through this year."