This year was supposed to be different. This year, the Islanders were supposed to build on their playoff appearance from last season, when they took the Penguins to six games in the first round.
Instead, just six months after that series, the Isles find themselves buried in last place in the Metropolitan Division and in the midst of a season-high five-game losing streak.
And none of those losses were uglier than Friday’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Red Wings at Nassau Coliseum.
Their play led to some rough self-analysis, as well as chants of “Fire Cappy” from the home crowd directed at head coach Jack Capuano.
“I’m not gonna respond to that,” Capuano said. “What am I gonna do? I’ve been in this business a long time and I understand that.”
He also understands his team isn’t very good right now. So does captain John Tavares after the Isles fell to 8-15-3, while Detroit improved to 13-7-7.
“With our mistakes, we’re an easy team to play against right now,” Tavares said. “We have breakdowns, especially in our own end. We’re just not moving our feet and engaging. We can’t give them time and space like we did tonight.”
That was never more evident than on the first goal, when the Islanders allowed Darren Helm to go through the defense untested and beat Kevin Poulin at 7:09 in the first period.
The Islanders fell behind 2-0 at 16:49 in the second, when Helm scored again, this time short-handed. He outraced Andrew MacDonald to a loose puck and beat an indecisive Poulin, who made a belated move out of the net.
The period ended with a chorus of boos from the crowd of 14,826.
“You saw our execution and we made some decisions tonight with the puck that were not very good,” Capuano said. “You can’t do that against that team … or any team, for that matter.”
Josh Bailey, who has four goals this season, but none since Oct. 25, was a healthy scratch and Capuano opted against playing the recently recalled Calvin de Haan, since he hasn’t spent much time with the team.
The coach also said he likely would turn to Anders Nilsson in net soon after starting Poulin nine consecutive games. That could come as soon as Saturday, when the Islanders host Washington.
As for his own job security, Capuano insisted he’s not spending much time thinking about it.
“Listen, I’m 47 years old,” Capuano said. “I’ve been in this business a long time. Players win them, coaches lose them. You’ve got to have belief in the players that you coach and I think our coaching staff does. … At the end of the day, the players play the game, but I understand as coach, you’re responsible. We try to prepare them and tonight, for me, it was about the execution and for whatever reason it wasn’t very good. We have to get better in that area.”