A seven-game road trip for the New York Islanders earlier this month ended up as one of the most successful treks in franchise history.
New York’s current seven-game homestand, however, is shaping up as memorable for all the wrong reasons.
The undermanned Islanders will look to halt a skid Sunday afternoon when they host the Washington Capitals in Elmont, N.Y.
Both teams were off after playing at home Friday. New York overcame a three-goal deficit before dropping a 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, while the Capitals scored the final four goals to complete a comeback in a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The defeat was the third in four games (1-2-1) on the homestand for the Islanders, who have scored just six goals in that span after outscoring the opposition 24-13 during a 6-1-0 road trip.
New York, however, received a bigger loss early in the second period Friday. Veteran forward Kyle Palmieri was injured after Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale landed on his left knee while Palmieri completed a check along the boards.
Palmieri managed to get to his feet, skate toward the Islanders bench and steal the puck from Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae to begin the sequence that ended with Emil Heineman’s goal. Palmieri was credited with the secondary assist as he was helped to the locker room.
“I think everybody knows it doesn’t look good,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said Friday, one day before the team announced that Palmieri sustained a torn ACL and will be out six-to-eight months.
Palmieri, 34, has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 25 games while playing in the first season of a two-year, $9.5 million contract.
He is the third Islanders player to be sidelined over the last two weeks.
Defenseman Alexander Romanov is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a shoulder injury sustained when the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen shoved him into the boards on Nov. 18.
Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau is week-to-week with an upper-body injury sustained against the St. Louis Blues last Saturday.
The Islanders’ struggles have coincided with a rebound by the Capitals, who have won six of their last seven games following a stretch in which they lost eight of 10 (2-6-2).
The comeback win Friday was the first in the current surge for the Capitals, who continued their recent third-period success after Anthony Beauvillier, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and Tom Wilson scored in the final 6:44.
Washington has outscored its opposition 12-6 in the third period in its last six games.
“I think it’s important to not get frustrated when goals aren’t going in,” said Chychrun, who collected the game-winning goal and has scored in five straight games.
“If you’re generating chances and getting looks, I think that’s most important on the process as well. ‘Carbs’ (head coach Spencer Carbery) talks about it all the time. And our process was well and we get rewarded for it later on in the game.”
