Practice has not made perfect for the Islanders of late, mainly because there have so few of them.
“Yeah, it does,” coach Barry Trotz said when asked whether a lack of practice time could explain the recent slippage in the team’s performances. “For any player, it doesn’t matter the sport, the reps are key for him. It’s hard to correct in the middle of the season when you’re playing every day. You get some bad habits. I think we picked up some.”
The Islanders, who open a three-game homestand on Saturday night against the Flyers at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum after sweeping a home-and-home series with the Senators, did not practice again on Friday.