New York Islanders Keeping Games Close, Still Managing To Lose Them All

The New York Islanders have started off the month of December 0-3, with two loses to the New York Rangers and a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

In all three games, the Islanders really had a chance up until the final horn, giving their few fans watching back home a glimmer of hope. But in all three games this hope was crushed, resulting in even more disgruntled Islanders fans.

In the two loses to the Rangers, the Islanders managed to lose by a combined three goals. Take away an empty net goal with three seconds remaining the the second game and the both games were a single goal from going in the Islanders' favor.

The first of the two Rangers games was probably the most frustrating for fans so far this year.

The Islanders managed to score five goals, only to give up six. For those of you who have not really been following the Islanders very closely, the team takes "struggling to put the puck into the net" to a new level.

The Islanders twice came back from being down a goal to tie or put themselves ahead, only to let the Rangers retake the lead.

In this game, DiPietro only faced 26 shots and kept 20 out. That boils down to a measly save percentage of .769.

What may have made matters worse is that the next day the Islanders couldn't put any points on the board and lost 2-0.

Dwayne Roloson was brilliant in the net for the Islanders, saving 19 of the 20 shots sent his way. Unfortunately for him, it seems the Islanders had scored all their goals for the week the night before, and he still got the loss.

The Islanders looked to turn things around against another division rival Sunday against the Flyers. The

Islanders were actually winning in this one with 10 minutes to play in the third before the Flyers scored two goals in a little over three minutes. The Islanders couldn't bounce back in the little time that was left, and lost, 3-2.

The question that must be asked is, what do these close games mean? Are the Islanders close to beating these teams? Does the puck just need to bounce their way?

In my opinion, the answer is that the Islanders haven't been unlucky, they are just not as good as these teams. For the Islanders to lose by such close margins three times in a row is not a fluke, it's a pattern.

As a fan, these games are tough to watch because they give you the hope that the Islanders are so close, but after every loss, you realize they are still so far.

On a completely unrelated note

You know things are going bad for your team when their website's banners are all for the minor league team.

On Tuesday morning, the Islanders had one highlighting Bridgeport Sound Tigers goalie Kevin Poulin (who apparently has been playing amazing), another highlighting Sound Tigers Rhett Rakhshani (AHL Player of the Week) and the final highlighting ex-Islander Bill Guerin.

It's a sad thing when there is not even a small amount of good news to report on your own team.

Follow me on Twitter @cleyden for more Islanders news.