The Islanders have stopped the bleeding, at least for now.
That same night, the organization honored Brent Sutter, inducting him into the team's Hall of Fame and UBS Arena's Ring of Honor, presenting him with an unforgettable quadruple and a small special award in front of one of the season's largest crowds. gave. -1 win against the Sharks on Saturday.
This was at least a much-improved effort from the disastrous first two games on the homestand, and it didn't hurt that the Islanders had Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom back in the lineup from upper-body injuries. It didn't happen.
These aren't the only changes made along with the improvements.
For the first time since Oct. 29, Matthew Barzal and Bo Horvat started a game on the same line, and the change also reunited Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. With Maxim Tsyplakov suspended, Mark Gutcom returned to the team for his second NHL game.
Also in net was Marcus Hogberg, who continued to look like a solid option with 18 saves after coach Patrick Roy chose the Swede over Ilya Sorokin.
However, it would be unfair to attribute this victory solely to lineup changes.
The Islanders, who looked very calm through the first two games of this homestand, played with renewed effort and intensity.
Their game had an emotion rarely seen this season.
They forechecked, tried to keep the puck in the zone and attacked with gusto.
Then, after knocking on Alexander Georgiev's door for much of the first period, they clinched the victory with goals from Barzal, Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson in the second period. The first two were on breakaways and the latter was a point shot through traffic. This hit a Sharks defenseman and went into the goal.
Barclay Goodrow fired a shot from the top of the right circle, following Barzal's goal, cleanly beating Hogberg, who had conceded his only goal in four games starting from third strike.
But Nelson scored just 40 seconds later. It was a rare sight this season. The Islanders bailed out their goaltender instead of asking him to bail out.
The Islanders didn't let up in the third, as Ryan Purok added a fourth point with a right-point shot just 1:03 into the period, beating Georgiev clean.
True, no collapse occurred here.
The truth is, the Islanders are far enough away from the playoff cut line that it doesn't make much sense to wonder if one game against the league's 31st-ranked team will start a turnaround, but it certainly does. It's hope.
To enter the realm of rational thinking, the Islanders will need to be near-perfect shutouts in the remaining four games of this homestand, and likely need to get help elsewhere.
For quite some time, the teams in front of the Islanders basically kept the Islanders in the race without anyone taking the lead.
The group of teams currently in the race (Columbus, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Detroit and Montreal) are all racing at the same time, leaving the Islanders behind them.
Whether or not this represents the club rediscovering what made last week's trifecta a more lasting success, the overall effort on home ice has been so rare this season that the overall Put the statue aside and enjoy.
