Just 10 days ago, the Islanders were riding a wave of momentum, the ceiling on their season looking higher than anyone had realized.

Since then, it has gone down, down, down, with things seemingly getting worse by the day. By the end of Sunday afternoon, they had a fourth loss in five, 4-1 to the Capitals in a game that all but confirmed that yes, this is going to be much harder without Kyle Palmieri in the fold after the winger tore his ACL .

It’s not that the Islanders weren’t competitive; it was quite the opposite in a game where they nearly doubled Washington’s shot count, and Caps netminder Logan Thompson was the best player on either side. Their bad luck has not stopped with injuries during a stretch in which Thompson and Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman alike have stolen two poin

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