It will not be so easy to find exactly what the Islanders need at the trading deadline. What seems to be eluding them is a certain something that prevents them from grabbing hold of a game and not letting go.
Maybe it is just some intangible that is missing. For the second game in a row, they played a good game and carried a lead into the third period. And again they lost. This time, it was 2-1 in regulation to the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., as Kyle Palmieri scored twice in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit and cost the Islanders another chance to gain points and another day on the schedule.
Jaroslav Halak was solid in net with 31 saves, but the Islanders still lost their third straight since earning back-to-back shutouts last week.
With another disappointment, and another empty night from their top line, the Islanders are two points behind Columbus for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but seven points behind the Devils in the first wild card position. The Islanders have one day to maybe find someone who can make just enough of a difference.
The final days before the trading deadline, which this season is at 3 p.m. Monday, are among the most edgy for players throughout the league. So, Josh Bailey was in a particularly comfortable position as he entered his first game since signing a six-year contract extension with the Islanders.
Bailey said before the game that he and John Tavares did not speak about the situation as linemates, teammates or fellow prospective unrestricted free agents. "These things, you look at them from different perspectives as friends," he said. "I think as friends, our relationship over the years _ experiencing a lot of similar things together _ has really grown. I owe him a lot and as a teammate and as a person. A great leader and a great person for me to look up to. Playing with him has been a treat as well."
That Tavares has his own contract situation pending did not enter into the captain's congratulations when the contract was signed Friday. "He was just excited for my family and myself," Bailey said. "That was the majority of it."
An island of stability, though, did not help the Tavares line produce. So, what's next?
"I don't care if you feel you're safe or you're not, if you want to get traded or you don't want to get traded, you want a contract. This is always a time when things bubble over a little bit and get in your head a little bit. Never easy," Doug Weight said after the morning skate. "As a coach and a staff, we've got to go back to work. It's another huge game for us. Monday at 3 o'clock is Monday at 3 o'clock. Right now it's a huge two points for us on the table against a team that we've been chasing since mid-October."
Neither side showed much in the first period late Saturday after a long, rambling number-retirement ceremony for Patrik Elias went nearly an hour-and-a-half _ about 20 minutes longer than scheduled. The Islanders had to wait it out in their locker room, the Devils sat in chairs on the ice. Not a good way to prepare for a game that began around 8:30 p.m. It was scoreless, without a lot of big chances either way.
Early in the second, Mathew Barzal lost then regained the puck in his own zone, used his speed to lead a rush and found Anthony Beauvillier at the left circle. Beauvillier quickly dished to Jordan Eberle, who knocked it past Keith Kinkaid at 3:55.
It was a different story in the third, when Palmieri wiped out the 1-0 lead and put the Devils up by one. The first was a shot on the move, fired between Johnny Boychuk and Sebastian Aho at 6:35 the next was a redirection of Sami Vatanen's right-point shot at 11:11. The crowd roared when Kinkaid held off a late push when the Islanders had pulled Halak. The Islanders, coming off a hard shootout loss in Toronto Thursday, were again seeking answers.
