Mike and Dan react to an eventful week for the Islanders that featured a slew of injuries, a surprise win and three more frustrating losses. After shooting blanks again in winnable games against Anaheim and Columbus, the Islanders went to Buffalo, where they had not won in three seasons. Despite losing Mat Barzal before the game and Adam Pelech, Mike Reilly and Alex Romanov during it, they hung on for a win... only to then lose a gritty game two days later at Madison Square Garden against the world's luckiest team, the New York Rangers. Some teams don't deal with that much adversity in a season, let alone a week. But these are the Islanders, who have been making things that should be impossible to feel familiar feel familiar for three seasons now. In the second half, we look forward to the coming week including the first official "elimination game" of the season and what exactly the injuries mean going forward. They won't wave the white flag but if they can't stay afloat with the same depth players we're already well familiar with, they might need to have some difficult conversations.

Subscribe to our Patreon! Members get ad-free episodes of the shows, bonus podcasts, written posts and much more. Or follow us for free to get announcements and our weekly release calendar.

Visit our friends:

Our theme is "Morning Haze" by Family Dinner. Hear more of their music on Spotify, including their new album "God Looks Out for Fools."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices