Never healed. | Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Islanders face the media as they clear out. How self-aware are they? The Islanders are clearing out today which means we’ll get more quotes and material — maybe even some post-season thoughts from management — before players scatter and the draft and free agency prep begins. This is a fresh thread for all of our angst and head-shaking. To get you musing, fuming or nodding, here’s an initial sampling via reporters who are welcomed to speak with players — even injured players! — as they exit. Pageau on his own season ..read more

“If you guys don’t win the next round, what was the point?” | Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images Everyone has the same thing to say about a roster that does not cut it. The Islanders season finished the way most thought it would once the playoff pairings were set, and the post-mortems started to publish quickly, all with remarkably similar themes that reflect how obvious the situation is. If you pretty much knew how things would end — if not the details, which were cruel yet appropriate — then your post-mortem was almost pre-written: Inconsistent. Decline/aging of formerly key players. Appa ..read more

This absolute cyclone of a season has come to an end with a wide variety of conflicting feelings. Mike and Dan react the Islanders’ season-ending 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes, and all the bad luck and blood-from-a-stone tries they saw throughout the series. After a disastrous start (including a penalty shot awarded to the worst possible player), the Islanders’ clawed their way back into the game by scoring twice in the second period. But the clean slate wasn’t enough for The Hockey Gods, who gifted Carolina not one but two lucky bounce goals in eight seconds that left the generally unorganized ..read more

Photo by Cato Cataldo/NHLI via Getty Images The Islanders rallied back after giving up two goals early, but two goals off bad bounces sunk the season in a five-game series. Going in, I didn’t think they’d win the series, and I expect most of you didn’t expect them too, either. The Hurricanes finished 17 points ahead of the Islanders, and with 13 more regulation wins. They beat the us last year in the playoffs, and were significantly healthier this year, and added some firepower and experience to their roster in the offseason and the trade deadline. So yeah, we were always the underdogs. But th ..read more

The last happy moment in Raleigh... | Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images The Isles aim to send it back to Long Island one more time. Lots of teams can be eliminated from the NHL playoffs tonight. The Islanders are one of them. Themes heading into Game 5: Simon Holmstrom is back in, Matt Martin out hurt, Ruslan Iskhakov scratched. [@AGrossNewsday] Semyon Varlamov in net again, of course. Glad he got an extra day to recover from that double overtime. Hesitate to even mention this, but one of the semi-overlooked threads is that the Hurricanes, despite some stretches of great possession and sh ..read more

Let’s do some more of that celebration stuff. | Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Getty Images Also: Ilya is gonna be okay. All four series on the schedule tonight are at 3-1. Who clinches, and who extends their lives? Canucks and Predators, Bruins and Maple Leafs (teehee), Avalanche and Winnipeg, and of course the Hurricanes are looking to end the Islanders’ season. Islanders News A new hope? Dan and Mike discuss the last couple games on the latest Islanders Anxiety podcast. They also enjoy this fun stat: Matt Martin (who is likely out again tonight) has 82 career playoff games; John Tavares, 58. Damn ..read more

Call it staving off elimination or the start of a comeback or a stay of execution. The Islanders are alive to try to win one more game. Mike and Dan recap the Islanders’ double OT win over the Hurricanes in Game 4 (and their haunting loss in Game 3) and discuss how some of their hope has been restored. Although the vibes going into the game down 0-3 were less than excited, the Islanders refused to go away quietly, and were led by Mathew Barzal, who scored the winning goal (with a little help from one of the least-likely primary assist-getters in Islanders playoff history) and was a man on a m ..read more

Who else takes irrational pleasure in watching Skjei fail? | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images After the rush of a victory (finally!), a couple of days to build up the dread all over again. Each playoff series is, well, a series of little game scores that carry varying degrees of meaning, emotion, anxiety and weight in the days between games even though they all ultimately amount to the same thing. A 2-2 series feels different if you began 0-2 than if you began 2-0, vs. if it went 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, but no matter how you spin the journey, at that point you’ve reduced things to a best of three. A ..read more

Elation. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images The Isles avoided the sweep thanks to Barzal and Bortuzzo. The New York Islanders stayed alive with a double-overtime win in Game 4 over the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a thriller in every sense of the word, and they extended their season to at least Game 5 Tuesday night in Raleigh. Keep rolling. Islanders News: Mostly Game 4 Stuff Mathew Barzal had two goals, including the double-OT winner, tipping home a shot from an unlikely source: Robert Bortuzzo, whose third-period penalty nearly blew it all. [LHH] Patrick Roy was proud of his group. [3 Tak ..read more

Found a way. | Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports The Isles won a game. Mat Barzal deflected in a Robert Bertuzzi shot early in the second overtime of Game 4 on Long Island to give the Islanders their first win of the series and extend their season for at least one more game against the heavily favored Carolina Hurricanes. The #Isles aren't done!! Mat Barzal deflects a Bobby Bortuzzo bomb from the blueline to force Game 5️⃣ in Raleigh - and UBS is a MADHOUSE ️ ️ ️@brendanmburke | @91Butch | @Thomas_Hickey14 pic.twitter.com/eHxtb6FER8 — x - Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) April 27, 2024 The winner wa ..read more