The moment when the Islanders' playoff push went awry
Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders bumps Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime, which led to a disallowed goal at UBS Arena on March 24, 2025/ Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
It’s easy to pinpoint when things went so wrong for the Islanders. They were livid in the moment when Kyle Palmieri’s apparent winner in the final seconds against the Blue Jackets was waved off because of goalie interference and they have not recovered.
They’ve since lost four straight in regulation heading into Friday night’s game against the playoff-bound Wild at UBS Arena. They fell five points behind the Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with Tuesday night’s 4-1 defeat to the Lightning to open a three-game homestand.
Were the Islanders wronged in what became a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets to end a 3-0-3 stretch? They strongly felt so. But whether they were or weren’t, how they’ve nose-dived since says more about them as a team.
Had Palmieri’s goal stood — the call on the ice was no goal because of goalie interference and NHL off-ice officials in Toronto did not overturn the call after a video review — the Islanders would have equaled the Canadiens’ point total for the final wild-card spot.
Fast-forward to before Tuesday’s loss and coach Patrick Roy was asked whether it was natural for some players to be trying to do too much individually with the team mired in a losing streak.
“Absolutely,” Roy said. “It could be.
“But when I look back, I hate to go to that game, but the Columbus game is a game that really hurt us a lot.”
The Islanders then ended a four-game homestand with a 5-2 loss to the Canucks in which their five-on-five play was deficient and goalie Ilya Sorokin was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots. They ceded a four-goal lead to the Lightning in a 5-3 road loss on Saturday before rallying with three goals in the third period and spotted the Hurricanes a two-goal lead in a 6-4 road loss on Sunday.
After the loss in Carolina, Roy called out goalie Marcus Hogberg for allowing a couple of soft goals. And Roy ripped into top-six wing Anthony Duclair after Tuesday’s defeat, calling his play in the game “god-awful,” and adding he thought it was an “effort thing.”
None of these are the signs of a team that is meeting a challenge — granted, a daunting challenge — head on.
It’s in contrast to how the Islanders finished last season, going 8-0-1 down the stretch to move into third place in the Metropolitan Division. Both Bo Horvat and defenseman Ryan Pulock acknowledged on Tuesday the Islanders likely have to win all eight of their remaining games to qualify for the postseason.
If not, game over.
Pulock said he could not pinpoint why the Islanders could not correct the series of in-game mistakes that have hurt them.
“If I could, right now, obviously we’d do it,” Pulock said. “It’s just frustrating because there’s moments where we do a lot of really good things and we’re playing the right way and we’re creating and we’re playing well defensively. Then we have a moment where we let off and we find ourselves in a hole and you just can’t have those moments at this time of the year.”
The Islanders had an apparent good moment gone bad against the Blue Jackets. And they never recovered.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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