As the countdown continues towards the opening of UBS Arena and the Islanders' first home game there on November 20, the Isles still have to navigate their way through a season-opening 13 game road trip. In coming up with the schedule, the NHL afforded the Islanders a few opportunities to come home during the road trip, one of which comes right now.
After Sunday's 2-0 win in Las Vegas, the Islanders are now 3-2-1 after starting the season 0-2, so the team was feeling pretty good about themselves when they boarded that cross-country flight home.
"It will be nice," said forward Casey Cizikas following Sunday's game. "I think every guy is excited to get back and see their family. I'll have a few days at home, get the body ready again and get the mind fresh. It's going to be nice to get back there and just have a couple of days to ourselves."
All things considered; the Islanders have come out of the first leg of the excursion in good shape.
Following losses in Carolina and Florida to start the season, the Islanders have come back with a win over Chicago, an overtime loss in Columbus and back-to-back wins over Arizona and Vegas on Saturday and Sunday. It's still early in the season, but the Islanders now have a winning record and they have points in four straight games.
"Obviously, we started in a little bit of a hole," said Head Coach Barry Trotz. "We've dug ourselves out of that hole."
As the Islanders try to manage this very long road trip, they are sticking to the plan they have in place to find their way through an 82-game regular season. The pandemic cut short the 2019-20 season and when play resumed with postseason play, all of the games took place over that summer in a bubble. The 2020-21 season began this past January with a 56-game regular season, with all games within your division, and then playoffs that stretched into July.
Listen to New York sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Islanders team gear
Even coming off back-to-back trips to the NHL's final four, the Islanders have the oldest team in the league, and knew coming into the season that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
"You can't just flip the switch at the start of the year and have everything snap into place," said forward Josh Bailey, who scored a goal in Sunday night's win over the Golden Knights. "Sometimes it takes a bit of time, and obviously with the situation we're in here being on the road, it's not an easy one. I thought we regrouped well as the trip went on. We just kept fighting and kept sticking together and I think that's really what it's all about."
The Islanders have actually been road warriors since before the regular season started.
With UBS Arena not yet finished and with the Islanders closing the door on any more games at Nassau Coliseum, the organization decided to have their three home pre-season games at Webster Bank Arena, home of their AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Islanders. There were also road games against the Rangers, Flyers and Devils – and even though the game in New Jersey was cancelled due to a power outage, the Islanders still made the schlep to Newark and took warmups.
So, now with this Saturday's game in Nashville being the lone game for the Islanders over a 10-day stretch, they can take a deep breath after surviving the first part of the road trip.
"People forget that we had six pre-season games on the road too," said Trotz. "We've been grinding through that, and then a long road trip which we got off to a real tough 0-2 start and we've sort of had to piece it together."
The Islanders earned a well-deserved day off on Monday, and now they have an opportunity to be home on Long Island for a few days of relaxing with their families. But, they'll also quickly get back on the ice for practice, as they hit the road again for a quick second leg of the trip on Friday. After Saturday's game in Nashville, the Islanders will come home again for a few days before heading back on the road.
Given the hand they were dealt and how they started the first leg of the trip, all is well right now in Islanders Country.
"Yeah, I think so," said Cizikas. "We didn't start the trip off the way we wanted but we finished it the way we did."
Follow Peter Schwartz on Twitter: @SchwartzSports
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
