The Islanders’ playoff hopes have been all but blown to smithereens as their losing streak stretched to five games following Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. But at least Pierre Engvall is finally showing signs of life in the second year of what had been a highly scrutinized seven-year deal.
The much-maligned winger, who has often drawn the ire of head coach Patrick Roy in the form of healthy scratches and benchings, scored two goals in the loss in Carolina and has been one of the Islanders’ most consistent forwards when regular production has been non-existent from every other corner of the roster.
It was the first time in his career that the 28-year-old recorded a multi-goal game — his 63 prior goals all coming in separate games — while skating alongside Casey Cizikas and Hudson Fasching.
“It felt good to score and to do it twice,” Engvall said. “I think our line was working really hard and was down there in the offensive zone a lot.”
Of Engvall’s eight goals this season in 53 games, four of them have come in the last seven games.
“It’s been feeling good for some games here,” Engvall said. “I enjoy playing with Fasching and Cizikas. They’re working really hard and making it easy for everyone out there. It’s easy to read where the puck is going.”
This is the first time since signing his new deal two years ago that he has shown flashes of what prompted general manager Lou Lamoriello to first acquire him from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2023 trade deadline, and then to secure him for that seven-year deal.
After scoring a career-high 17 goals in 2022-23, Engvall scored just 10 goals in his first full season with the Islanders last year. After scoring goals in three straight games from Nov. 14-19, he went 27 straight games without finding the back of the net.
“I’ve been pushing on him and he’s responding really well,” Roy said. “That line’s been playing really well.”
“I think I’m just trying to focus on myself and see what I can do,” Engvall added. “Don’t care about anything else and put all those things that’s been in the past away and just focus on what I can do.
It’s the tiniest of silver linings for an Islanders team that has watched their playoff hopes go down the drain over the last week. While they are just three points out of the final Wild Card berth with nine games left to play, three teams sit between them and the Montreal Canadiens, who own that last spot.
“It’s going to come down to the last games,” Engvall said. “We can’t give up. We have to re-focus and go from there.”
