Just when the New York Islanders look like toast and their season is over, they win three games in a row, on the road nonetheless. They won on Jan. 5 against the Boston Bruins in a 5-4 back-and-forth overtime game. Then they pull off a massive upset by beating the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 9 with a 4-0 stomping. To cap off the road trip, the Islanders come from behind against the Utah Hockey Club on Jan. 11 with a 2-1 win.
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The Islanders are starting to see the pieces come together and for the first time since early on in the season, they are playing great hockey across the board. In three games, general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello’s vision for this team is starting to pay off. It’s one that can turn this season around and make the Islanders a playoff team. The catch is that it might be too late for that.
Islanders’ Top Six Connections
The offense has started to click. The Islanders entered the road trip averaging only 2.64 goals per game and they scored 11 goals in the following three games. More importantly, the star players, or at least the players expected to lead this team are starting to connect and generate offense.
Bo Horvat and Anders Lee each scored twice in the overtime win over the Bruins. Brock Nelson found Lee for a goal and Kyle Palmieri found Horvat with a centering pass in the win over the Golden Knights. The Mathew Barzal, Lee, and Nelson line connected for both goals against the Utah Hockey Club. After shuffling the lines all season, it looks like Patrick Roy has two lines he can rely on to give the Islanders a stable offense.
Suddenly, the top six looks like a strength after being a weakness all season. The offense can be relied on to win games and that’s what this team needs as they remain near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and look to climb their way back into the wild card picture. It’s not a top-of-the-league forward unit but it gets the job done.
Islanders’ Defense Is Playing Two-Way Hockey
The Islanders have battled injuries on defense and have struggled in part because they’ve had to piece things together. Additionally, the unit has struggled offensively outside of Noah Dobson, who has five goals and 16 assists. The unit is starting to play great at both ends of the ice.
Dobson and Alexander Romanov are the anchors of the unit with the duo looking like the Islanders can build around in the future. While Adam Pelech has started to decline with age, he’s stepped up at both ends of the ice alongside Ryan Pulock, the other veteran of the defense. Then there’s Scott Mayfield, who has bounced back this season, a big sign of relief after he signed that seven-year deal in the 2023 offseason, playing alongside Isaiah George, the young and rising defenseman of the unit.
Romanov and George missed the last game with injuries and it’s something to monitor, especially with Romanov who has battled injuries throughout his career and plays a hard-hitting style that puts him in vulnerable situations. That said, the six skaters are in place to turn this defense around and more importantly have it impact every game in all three zones.
Sorokin & Goaltending
The Islanders have leaned on Ilya Sorokin with Semyon Varlamov on long-term injured reserve. The results are mixed. Sure, a .902 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.83 goals-against average (GAA) on 847 shots with 1.4 goals saved above average (GSAA) is better than most goaltenders, but it’s far from elite play in the net.
That said, Sorokin’s carried the Islanders and been lights out with some of his performances this season. His 30-save shutout against the Golden Knights was a reminder that the Islanders can rely on him but once in a while, they must give him a night off. They gave him one by default as he was sick on Saturday and the backup played.
That backup was Marcus Hogberg, who proved he can fill in when needed. Yes, he’s struggled in the American Hockey League (AHL) all season but with the help of a good defense in front of him, he stopped 21 of 22 shots to give the Islanders a 2-1 win. If he gives the Islanders a few more good starts before Varlamov returns, then the goaltending will be fine and the team will have a duo they can lean on for a late-season push for the playoffs.
But Is It Too Late?
The Islanders are finally getting it together and with a 17-18-7 record, they no longer have the worst record in the Metropolitan Division (the Philadelphia Flyers took that crown). The question is if their latest surge is enough. Moreover, can they still back their way into the playoffs?
The problem is that the Islanders are already in a deep hole and slowly climbing out of it. While they’re only five points out of a wild card spot, they have to leap six teams just to sneak in. The other issue with the Islanders is their latest winning streak is what this team looks like when everything goes right. The reality is that not everything will go right for the rest of the season. The top six will fall off a bit and the defense won’t help out the goaltending. They can look respectable down the stretch but a playoff push is unlikely.
When Lamoriello built this team, he saw them making the playoffs. The Islanders have looked like a playoff team in the past few games but in the long run, they haven’t and this season is proof of that. For the most part, they have played last-place hockey and the recent games can’t erase that from their record.
