Islanders head coach Jack Capuano faced the media once again after yet another home loss. It's a role he has become accustomed to. Luckily for Jack, the room is never hostile. This isn't Toronto. The media isn't there to crucify him for not winning. Actually, the Long Island media knows the Islanders fate so well, they are more sympathetic than anything else.
Even the Isles biggest rival's owned media outlets, Newsday and News12, seem to have become his allies. The only ones who seem to be non-sympathetic to the Isles home fate are the home fans.
There was talk of calling for specific chants at certain times of last night's game should things be going south. I didn't hear them from the reported 14,888 attendees at the Coliseum.
Yes, Jack was content with his team's performance last night. He never once mentioned "battle level." He said they deserved better for how well they played, but mentioned they were playing a 'pretty good' team. The trouble is, there are plenty of 'pretty good' teams in the NHL. The Stanley Cup winning teams find ways of winning against the odds.
The Islanders have not even found a way to string more than three or four wins together. The Penguins won their 11th last night even without Malkin. Yes, 'pretty good teams' find ways of winning even when they have a hole in their line-up. Others step up their game and keep mental breakdowns to a minimum.
The Islanders have yet to find the way from being an 'okay' team to one of those 'pretty good' teams. They beat the Penguins once. As a matter of fact, they have beaten other teams they shouldn't have been able to beat -- once. The problem is they can't do that with any rate of consistency.
Josh Bailey, one of the goal scorers of the evening, said they have to find a way to not become deflated after letting up a go-ahead goal. They can't get away from their game.
Nabokov told Stan Fischler he has to find a way to give up less than three goals in a game in order for them to win. He has only a few more games to perfect that skill while his agent begins to negotiate for a new contract.
Mark Streit and Lubomir Visnovsky are also trying to get their on-ice performance to help negotiate their next contract, whether they be with the Isles or elsewhere. Will it be time for Mark Streit to find a new team? Will Lubo want to spend another season with developing star John Tavares?
It seems there is time for these decisions to be made. What there isn't time for is -- losing.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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