Not less than one group in Columbus didn’t have something to have a good time on Monday.
In what amounted to a must-win sport for the Islanders towards a Blue Jackets group they’re chasing within the wild-card race (that’s, if one believes the Islanders are nonetheless within the wild-card race in any respect), they put collectively the form of 60-minute effort that was lacking earlier on this homestand to win 3-1 at UBS Enviornment.
This was the form of effort which, if the Islanders may replicate it persistently, makes them appear to be a playoff contender.
Similar to Saturday towards the Sharks, the Isles hounded pucks and forechecked exhausting all night time whereas their high six performed as much as their billing — specifically the Mathew Barzal-Bo Horvat mixture, with Barzal twice feeding Horvat for targets.
There was additionally a robust effort on particular groups, with the Isles scoring a power-play aim and getting a net-zero night time on the penalty kill, with a shorthanded tally to make up for Columbus snapping the Isles’ scoreless streak on the PK.
The four-on-five effort was the linchpin of a good defensive effort in entrance of Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 24 of 25 pictures, with the Islanders hardly ever permitting something inside.
The one draw back on the night time was a possible damage to Noah Dobson, who left the sport early within the third interval after taking successful from Cole Sillinger and didn’t return.
Quietly, the Islanders have gained 5 of their final seven video games — it simply hasn’t translated to creating up floor within the standings, partly as a result of the 2 losses have come towards different groups forward of them. Even after a four-point sport towards the Blue Jackets, they’re nonetheless seven factors again of the second wild-card spot.
Nonetheless, it’s not likely up for debate that the Islanders have performed a few of their greatest hockey of the season because the new 12 months.
Working example, the second interval on Monday.
Down 1-0 on Kent Johnson’s power-play aim within the first, the Islanders bore down and started working. Horvat’s line with Barzal and Anders Lee was dominant, scoring simply 43 seconds into the interval as Barzal fed Horvat from behind the online.
The duo would rating a similar-looking aim on the ability play 5:47 into the interval, with Barzal circling across the offensive zone earlier than selecting out Horvat for an additional one-timer.
In between, the penalty kill took benefit after Zach Werenski tripped within the impartial zone, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau feeding Simon Holmstorm for a shorthanded aim.
That was certainly one of three penalties the Islanders efficiently killed within the second — and at five-on-five, they performed up ice continually.
For the second straight sport, the Islanders needed to maintain onto a 3-1 lead within the final 20 minutes and so they did so once more with out incident.
The third interval — a operating blooper reel for the primary six weeks of the season — has grow to be secure territory for the Islanders when holding a lead.
If they may make that enchancment on the fly, then perhaps there may be hope that their robust couple weeks of special-teams play will be sustainable, too.
The Islanders’ place within the standings is such that if there’s any likelihood in any respect of constructing a run, they should stack wins. One loss can damage them as a lot as a number of wins assist, particularly towards one other Jap group.
For that cause, the percentages are stacked towards them, even when the Islanders actually have discovered one thing of their sport just lately.
However even at this juncture, moving into the playoffs continues to be the aim.