The headline for a disappointing Sunday night in Elmont is that the New York Islanders, who need every point they can get, once again failed to harvest even one from a team in playoff position. The Isles have put up a decent record in January, but consistently grab points against also-rans while failing to get anything from tougher competition. Such was the case in their 4-3 regulation loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The subhead, however, is that this was actually a strong effort from the home team. They fell behind early and had to play catch-up most of the game, which ultimately cost them.