The last time a losing side was so grateful to be defeated, it was at Bunker Hill.

If not for the worst embarrassment the Islanders have suffered in recent memory, Matthew Schaefer would have made his Battle of New York debut on Saturday.

Only it would have come for the Rangers, not the Islanders.

The Islanders have allowed nine or more goals in a game 20 times in their history, and April 10 was their first time doing so in almost exactly 16 years.

When all is said and done, it’s possible that no franchise in history will ever be so grateful to get embarrassed by their rivals on home ice.

At the time, of course, losing 9-2 to the Rangers did not feel that way.

The Islanders were not tanking, had no interest in tanking and were appropriately upset by the entire thing.

With both tea

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