The NHL standings don’t care about the Islanders’ depleted roster.
It’s six losses in a row now for the Islanders, again forced to dress a makeshift lineup because of a COVID-19 outbreak. The $1.1 billion UBS Arena, in just its second game, became a quiet state-of-the-art facility for long stretches of the Maple Leafs’ 3-0 win on Sunday night before a sell-out crowd of 17,255. Or, worse, there were boos.
The last-place Islanders (5-8-2), coming off back-to-back trips to the NHL semifinals, are now 13 points out of a guaranteed playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division and seven points out of the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot.