After a 3-0 loss at home last Wednesday to the expansion Seattle Kraken, the Islanders did a little bit of soul searching during the All-Star Break. When they reconvened and headed out west, the idea was to figure out a way to get things back on track and claw their way back into playoff contention.
Well, the excursion started on a positive note Wednesday night with a 6-3 win in Vancouver, in a game that saw the Isles explode for three goals in 31 seconds during a four-goal first period before extending that lead to 5-0 in the second period.
The road trip resumes on Friday night when the Islanders take on the Oilers in Edmonton, but the Isles aren't banking on the same type of contest as they enjoyed in Vancouver.
"I don't know how the Edmonton game is going to play out," said Head Coach Barry Trotz. "You can't expect us to score five goals every game. Every game has its own map if you will or own set of circumstances that can change. We've gotta be flexible enough and resilient enough to roll with the punches when they come at us, take advantage of situations and be consistent."
The two points in Vancouver were huge, and the Islanders need to keep stockpiling the points, as they still have a massive mountain to climb to get back into the playoff race. Heading into Thursday night's NHL schedule, the Islanders find themselves 15 points behind Boston for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, although they have four games in hand and a head-to-head matchup with Bruins next week at UBS Arena.
Whatever magic the Islanders found in Vancouver needs to be bottled – not only for the rest of this road trip that will also take them to Calgary and Buffalo, but for the rest of the season, because each game remaining is basically a must-win.
"We know where we're at in the standings and we know what we have to get done," said forward Mat Barzal. "We just have to make a heavy push here. You don't want to dig that hole any deeper. Hopefully we can gain some traction and get a couple of wins."
The Islanders will be facing an Oilers team that is fighting for a Western Conference playoff spot, trailing Calgary by five points for that circuit's second wild card spot. Edmonton is a franchise in transition after firing Head Coach Dave Tippett on Wednesday, but things will be different even though this is an Oilers team the Isles knocked off 3-2 on New Year's Day at UBS Arena.
"We're going to Edmonton," said Trotz. "They've got some dynamic people. We're going to have to play a really good game."
The Islanders, for the most part, played a really good game on Wednesday night in Vancouver. To continue to have their season trend in the right direction, the Islanders are going to have to play a lot of really good games the rest of the way, and that has to continue Friday night in Edmonton.
Follow Peter Schwartz on Twitter: @SchwartzSports
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
