November revealed two sides of the Islanders, the good and the concerning.

And now these opening two weeks of December — starting with the first of three games against the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning in 12 days on Tuesday night at UBS Arena — could very well determine whether the Islanders will be a playoff contender or get buried in the standings while playing through serious injuries.

Because these next seven games present a gantlet. Details on the daunting stretch will be laid out in a few paragraphs.

“These are big games,” Ryan Pulock said after the Islanders fell to 1-3-1 on their seven-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Capitals on Sunday.

“Looking back the last few games, we’ve been playing great. A couple of mistakes here cost us. We’ve just got to score. That’

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