The Islanders are now more than halfway through their season-opening 13-game road trip, but they have now reached perhaps the most challenging portion of the excursion. They are currently in a period of the trip where they will play just one game in a 10-day span, but on Thursday, they will face the Canadiens in Montreal in the first of three games in four days. The NHL worked in some breaks for the Islanders during this road trip, which has given them the opportunity to come home a few times.
After a 2-0 win over Vegas on October 24th, the Islanders came home to three days off before returning to practice last Thursday. Following this past Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss in Nashville, the Islanders were off for Halloween and were back at practice on Monday. Knowing what twists and turns were in front of them on this road trip, the Islanders had a plan mapped up in advance including how to handle the time off.
"When those things pop up, you don't get mad about it," said Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz following practice on Monday. "You don't complain about it. You just say okay how are we going to adjust? Is it schedule-wise? Is it practice-wise? Is it travel-wise? Whatever we have to adjust let's take care of that first so it's well thought out and then let's apply what we feel is the best program to go on so that we can accomplish what we need to accomplish."
As the Islanders are counting down the days to their first-ever game at their new home UBS Arena on November 20th against the Calgary Flames, the Isles have been busy racking up points following losses in their first two games of the season. The Islanders are 3-2-2 in their first seven games and they are currently on a five-game point streak. They've been able to use the breaks in the schedule to work on some aspects of their game that have been sluggish over the first seven games like the power play, penalty killing and just an overall attention to details in their focus and structure.
So, the Islanders are looking at the days off and the practice time to find their way back to the things that brought them to back-to-back trips to the NHL's final four.
"We're building our game," said Islanders Captain Anders Lee. "We're building it for the long haul here and we have a lot of improvements that need to be made. You have to take advantage of this because we've all seen the schedule. Moving forward, we don't many breaks like this again."
The Islanders are about to embark on a challenging portion of this trip as they face the Canadiens on Thursday followed by back-to-back games over the weekend in Winnipeg on Saturday and in Minnesota on Sunday. The Islanders will be making their first trip to Canada since being in the bubble for the 2020 playoffs in Toronto and Edmonton. Last season, the regular season consisted of 56 games within their own division so the Islanders never had to go north of the border.
Along with visiting a lot of cities that they didn't get to go last season, the Islanders are ready to experience yet another slice of normality in the midst of a pandemic.
"You have all the stuff that happens at the border now with restrictions," said Trotz. "It will be a good test for us. They're big teams that take a piece of you every night."
"Definitely places that are fun to play not only for the Canadian players but I think for everyone just to be able to travel and to be able to go to different places," said Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau. "It's just fun to be able to travel together and go out there and play."
After these three games in four days, the Islanders will come home again to a three-day break before a bus trip to New Jersey for next Thursday's game against the Devils. But first things first, and that is facing a Canadiens team that went to the Stanley Cup Final last season in an atmosphere that is filled with hockey history followed by two more games that will be a tough challenge for the Islanders.
"It's another experience that we're going through," said Trotz. "Obviously, a great tradition in Montreal and a really great city to visit. We gotta get two points on the road here. To me, it's a really important trip in a lot of ways. You're going into Montreal, and a back-to-back with Winnipeg and Minnesota that are both quite strong."
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Even during a thirteen-game road trip, the Islanders have been able to spend some time at home with their families while also practicing in their own facility. But they have yet to hear the roar from Islanders Country and they have yet to put on their home blue sweaters and take the ice at their magnificent new home. The home opener is less than three weeks away and there are six more road games before the Islanders finally return to Long Island to play a game at UBS Arena.
It's been a road trip filled with challenges for the Islanders.
"It's tough," said Lee. "It's long. It is what it is. We've been taking on every game one by one."
And their focus is now on the next one…Thursday in Montreal.
