Jack Capuano death watch on, but no chatter from Islanders

This is the reality of New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano’s surroundings.

This team is off to a 4-6-1 start after a shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. They’re a bottom-three team at 5-on-5 in possession (46.07 percent adjusted Corsi percentage), which has helped lead them being just plus-1 in goals at even strength, despite being tied for sixth in EV goals scored at 23. (Although some really subpar goaltending has contributed.) The team has three goalies on the roster, and the two who have seen ice time this season have matching .908 save percentages.

After last night, Capuano looked around 11 games into the season and thought it best to obliquely mention that Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen aren’t walking through that door to save them.

“That’s my concern. Where are we gonna get point production from? We took 134 points out of our lineup that we lost. Now we gotta find a way. Everything gets magnified. I get it,” he said after the Flyers game.

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In fairness to Capuano, he’s right. The Islanders tried to replace the points that left with Andrew Ladd, who at one assist in 11 games has been a massive disappointment offensively, and Jason Chimera, getting 13:40 a game with three assists and a minus-5.

But there’s no getting around the fact that even on a night when the goaltending was good, as it was for Jaroslav “Get Me Outta Here!” Halak last night, the Islanders were outplayed.

From Lighthouse Hockey:

Time is ticking. Conservatively speaking, they are maybe two or three weeks from being out completely of playoff contention. Maybe the coach’s words shake something loose after tonight. Either the players start moving faster, winning more battles and controlling the puck more or [GM Garth] Snow makes a move or two to snap the team out of its funk. Or Snow finally splits with Capuano and brings in a new voice to try to squeeze something out of this roster before time runs out on the season.

A quick scan of other Islanders pundits reveals:

1 – BD Gallof has his doubts this is salvageable under the current staff. “If I was owner, I’d do a radical move. I’d push Garth upstairs, make analytics in charge, fire coaching staff – but that’s just me,” he writes. “What concerns me is the reticence up top to make this much needed change that is now playing out in slow motion.”

2 – Chris Botta offers these thoughts:

3 – But finally, Arthur Staple of Newsday believes there’s no reason for Capuano to worry yet.

This is Capuano’s seventh season with the Islanders. They’ve made the playoffs three times, and won one round. That postseason status has saved his bacon a few times already, but there are other external factors at play in 2016: The attendance in Brooklyn, the relative lack of buzz for the team in the city and the whole John Tavares contract thing. (Although, again, every indication is that he’s signing and staying.)

The only way Capuano survives a big stumble at the start of the season from the Islanders is if he and Snow are connected at the hip in the eyes of ownership, i.e. if one goes, so goes the other, so what’s the point of firing one now?

Otherwise, he’s going to pay the price for a roster with diminished talent and goaltending that not going to bail it out this time.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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