It has been nearly a week since the Islanders' last game, a 3-2 OT win over the Oilers at UBS Arena last Saturday. The next game they will play is next Thursday in Elmont against the New Jersey Devils. In between, it's been, and will continue to be, just practice after their four-game west coast road trip was postponed because of COVID-19 related issues.
It's been the latest hiatus in what has been a challenging season so far for the Islanders, one that now sees them trying to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Since their last game, the Islanders have had four practices and two days off, but as they await their return to the ice, they are putting their heart and soul into practice.
"I think we're handling it really well," said Mat Barzal. "The intensity has been high. Our mindset is that this isn't a vacation or a break for us."
It's rare to have back-to-back days of practice during this time of the season, much less what the Islanders have had this week and will continue to have through the weekend and next week. However, they are spending their time at practice doing things that they've been accustomed to doing since Barry Trotz took over as Head Coach prior to the 2018-19 season. It's a very competitive group and those competitive juices come out, not just at games, but also when the team is practice.
So, with all of this extra practice time, the coaching staff has been working diligently at planning practice sessions that are different from day to day.
"What we have to do as a coaching staff is keep it fresh," said Associate Head Coach Lane Lambert, who has been running the team while Trotz has been away for what has been termed personal reasons. "(We) make practices game-like. They love to compete so if you put that type of practice together and change it up a little bit every day, it keeps it fresh for them."
Once the Islanders resume playing, their schedule is going to get a lot busier. They are expected to have postponed games rescheduled during what was supposed to be the Olympic break, but there will also be games rescheduled as the schedule will allow. That will mean a lot of back-to-back situations, and some scenarios with three games in four days and four games in six days.
From the moment that the pandemic hit in March of 2020, the Islanders have met each challenge head on. Whether it was returning to play in a bubble for the 2020 playoffs, the abbreviated regular season last year leading to a second straight trip to the NHL's final four, or this year's 13-game season-opening road trip, a plethora of players and coaches on the COVID-19 list, and the many stops and starts to the schedule, the Islanders haven't complained.
"I think we just stay focused and stick together," said Josh Bailey. "We approach every day pretty much the same way…we're going to put our best foot forward. It's just one day at a time."
"When we get back out there, we got a lot of games to play in a short time and just focus on the game at hand," added defenseman Andy Greene.
For the Islanders, the next task at hand will be their next practice, and then eventually the attention will turn to preparing to the play the Devils next Thursday. And after that, it's going to be a lot of games in a short window for the NHL to complete the regular season…unless they decide to extend it.
However it winds up, the Islanders' focus remains to keep accumulating points and to get back to the playoffs to complete a quest that they have fallen just short of the last couple of years: win the Stanley Cup.
Follow Peter Schwartz on Twitter: @SchwartzSports
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
