The Islanders remain in first place in the Metropolitan division heading into Wednesday’s games but recently have hit a rough patch. One big reason is that the team appears to finally be paying a price for an inability to kill penalties.

On Tuesday night, the Islanders dropped their third straight game, yielding the game-deciding goal against the Florida Panthers while shorthanded. It was hardly a surprise given the Islanders have killed only 72.7% of penalties. That’s not only the worst rate this season but is on pace to...