NEW YORK _ It is way too early to obsess over the standings, right? Yes and no.
On one hand the Islanders acknowledged as they ventured into the post-All-Star Game dog days that it is OK to start taking a peek at what is going on elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division, because April no longer is that far off.
On the other hand, the division has "been just a mess," as coach Doug Weight said before Tuesday night's dreary 4-1 loss to the Panthers at Barclays Center, which did nothing to help the cause.
By that he meant it has been exceedingly close, with the Islanders having begun the game tied for sixth place with the Rangers and yet only two points out of second place and eight points out of first. And three points out of last.
So a coach, player or fan could drive himself or herself to distraction by obsessing over the daily ups and downs as the playoff race restarts after the All-Star break.
"If you have a good week you jump five stops," Weight said. "You can be six, seven games over .500 and one point out of last in your division. ... Definitely on a night-by-night basis it is amped up. The games are a little more important. You're rooting for two teams (in your division) not to tie. It comes down to taking care of business yourself."
The Islanders failed to do that against Florida, before a modest _ and displeased _ announced crowd of 10,423. To make it worse, they lost to Harri Sateri, a Finnish goaltender who earned his first NHL victory in four career starts.
It was a major disappointment after a pre-break road trip that yielded five points in three games.
The Panthers nearly took an early lead less than four minutes into the game when Aaron Ekblad had a clear shot at Jaroslav Halak from the left circle, but Halak steered the puck aside with his right shoulder.
That proved to be only a brief respite for the Islanders. At 8:54 of the first, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a strange goal by Mike Matheson.
The reaction from players on both teams was muted, and a replay review was required to confirm the puck struck the net over Halak's right shoulder in such a way that it bounced out so quickly it was unclear what had occurred.
The early deficit did not bode well for the Islanders, who entering the game were 17-3 in games in which they had scored first and 8-17-5 when allowing the first goal.
At 14:40 of the second, Evgenii Dadonov made it 2-0 on a wraparound goal after deking past Scott Mayfield and around the net behind Halak.
Florida made it 3-0 at 4:14 of the third when Keith Yandle beat Halak on a slapshot from the blue line. Less than a minute later, the Islanders' Adam Pelech put a shot from the slot past Sateri and it was 3-1.
With 12:13 left, the Islanders got the first power play of the night, but failed to score.
There is far to go, of course, beginning with a game against the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Wednesday. But every point counts, and the long countdown to spring has begun _ badly. Thirty-one games to go.
