The question in front of the Islanders is less about what exactly led to the deep stinging that resulted from the 2-1 defeat to the Bruins on Saturday night at Barclays Center, a brutal loss that allowed Boston to leapfrog these Brooklynites for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Instead, the question for the Islanders (35-27-12) over their final eight games — now two points behind the Bruins (39-30-6) with one game in hand, and one point clear of the Lightning — is if they are a team that is capable of consistently winning these grind-it-out, simple, often downright ugly affairs.