The New York Islanders will be back on their much-maligned home ice tonight, hoping to put Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to Tampa Bay well behind them.
“It was easily our worst game of the year from a lot of different standpoints,” forward Andrew Ladd told Newsday. “You get ticked off at the way it went, a bit embarrassed by it and you just want to get the team trying to feel good about themselves again.”
The Philadelphia Flyers (5-5-1) are the opponents tonight. While it’s still very early in the season, this is a key divisional game for the Isles (4-6-0), who are already three points out of a wild-card spot and five points back of third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Tuesday’s defeat was as bad as the score made it sound. The Isles got into penalty trouble early and were outshot, 30-12, in the first two periods. Little more than halfway through the game, they were trailing 6-0.
It got so bad for the home side that the “Fire Cappy!” chants started, according to Newsday.
Of course, Jack Capuano has heard those chants before, and he’s still the head coach. The Isles’ new owners have expressed their “full confidence” in Capuano and GM Garth Snow, even if not all fans feel the same.
The Isles have two more home games after tonight’s: Saturday against Edmonton and Monday versus Vancouver. After that comes a very tough stretch, including one trip to Florida and another to California.
