For the first time this season, the New York Islanders are winners of three straight — and they pulled it off during one of their toughest stretches on the schedule.
Overturning a 1-0 deficit in the third period at the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night, Mathew Barzal scored the game-winner with 1:25 remaining in regulation to establish a season-high winning streak.
They won an overtime thriller in Boston against the Bruins on Jan. 5 behind a Bo Horvat winner. Four nights later, they went to Vegas and rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights.
“Now we feel it,” Barzal said. “It just takes a game or two. We felt it after the big Boston win, and we walked into Vegas and played the same way… Couldn’t have asked for a better road trip.”
This recent stretch provides a major shift within a team that had struggled to find anything positive for much of the first half of the season. Just over one week ago, the Islanders sat in last place in the Metropolitan Division with 35 points (14-18-7). They now sit one game under NHL .500 and despite being in seventh place in their eight-team division, their 41 points sit just five behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan and hold the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re trying to climb out of something here,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “One game at a time. We’ve put a few together, and that’s all we can do. We’re playing the right way, and we’re getting results because of it. It feels good, for sure. Let’s get home and keep this thing going. Stay hungry and stay on it.”
Suddenly, things appear lighter around the Islanders, and they are finally turning a corner. They are not only returning home for a seven-game stand at UBS Arena beginning Tuesday, but general manager and president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello gave them another vote of confidence, saying that potentially trading veteran forward Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri before the March 7 trade deadline is not a thought.
“We can look at it that way, but every day is a new day,” Barzal said. “We’re in such a tight race that we can’t get too high or too low. We just have to ride this win streak and ride this quality of play that we’re bringing every night.”
