If this final game before the deal deadline doubled as the Islander Colour final game between Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, then at least that was good.
And if it was the iconic final game of this era of island hockey, the score would have been appropriate at least. 3-2 for the Jets, the islanders are straight from Barry Trotz's playbook, with Nelson and Palmieri contributing to their goals.
In the playoff race, it's hard to believe that management will be enough to leave sales between now and Friday, along with the islanders who are still behind, but hopes for another longshot postseason trip are still not entirely dead.
With both the Red Wings and the Blue Jacket losing, the Islanders sit just three points below the cut line, while the Rangers, Senators, Canadians and Bruins are all in between.
It should be noted that giving up two top six players on contract expiration and giving up a season doesn't necessarily have to be the same.
Player and coach Patrick Roy claim they don't know which direction to go, and they insist that the secrets run by Lamoriello are indeed incredible.
However, the final atmosphere after this one room was unmistakable, with Nelson holding back emotions during a session with reporters.
“Not,” he said, asking if he knew what was going to happen. “I know everything is sorted out, I mean it, it's a lot – there's a lot to it, there's a lot of different things.
“First and foremost, I had a conversation with Lou. I was honest. I'm really, really worried about playing with this place. I'll do everything we can to win.”
The islanders are believed to have tried to extend Nelson, but if there is a contract signed to the drawer somewhere, No. 29 may have beaten Adrian Brody for the best actor.
Maybe that will change over the next three days, and perhaps reaching within three points from the playoff spot would be enough for Lamoriello not to roll the dice.
But it was clearly not the atmosphere – even if the usual cliches about believing in the group were still appearing.
“We were together for a long time, so we understood each other quite well and had a great friendship,” Captain Anders Lee said. “I'm happy to be his teammate. I hope it continues like that. But I just support him. All these people, everyone who goes through it every year, that's the same thing.”
Nelson and Palmieri spent an early moment. Nelson took Palmieri first with a power play goal of 16:49, bringing the island up 1-0.
Then, at 1:33, Nelson finished off a cross cream feed from Max Tsyplakov and rode the board.
Winnipeg cut the lead to 2-1 and there was no easy win as Ryan Prock's explosion from the right point was reduced to 3-2 after cancelling Josh Morrissey's powerplay goal.
However, the islanders did not spiral after Nikolaj Ehlers' goal against Man Advantage. Instead, they reached into their bags, played the end of the game that defined the core at their best, locked the lead and abandoned all six shots in the final 20 minutes.
It was more important than anything else to prove that after a disastrous show in the yard on Monday, there was still the pride and strength left behind in the group.
At least the islanders did.
That's another question whether it was enough to keep Nelson and Palmieri islanders on a Saturday morning.
“I don't know what's going to happen at this point,” coach Patrick Roy said. “It was a little roller coaster, so we won some, we lose some. There are days when you want to buy and there are days when you want to sell. But it's up to Lou to decide.”
