When the Islanders suffered a blowout loss in St. Louis less than two weeks ago, their playoff calculations looked all but hopeless, and so did their season.
Since then, they’ve steadily improved and their playoff chances have been given new life as they head west on a four-game road trip.
The Isles, who got their revenge on the Blues with a 4-2 win on Tuesday night, are able to keep up with the Flyers and Lightning alike in their remaining games, maintaining a four-point lead after playing two fewer games.
The victory marked the longest winning streak of the season at four and marked the first time all year that the Islanders had won three consecutive regulation games.
More than anything, this highlights just how bleak the situation was and how much it is changing.
The Islanders needed a strong performance to make the playoffs.
They seem to be in the middle of doing just that.
The job isn’t done yet, but this is no win for the Islanders by chance.
Tuesday was the day they had to earn it, and they did.
They gave the Blues a 2-0 lead midway through the game, but the Isles fought back to tie the game before the second intermission.
Kyle Palmieri continued his hot streak, cutting the lead in half at the 12:32 mark when he took a stretch pass from Adam Pelech and found the back of the net with a power move.
Just over five minutes later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau tapped in the spilled puck to make it 2-all after Sebastian Aho’s first shot was blocked by Justin Faulk.
Less than a minute into the third period, Bo Horvat made up for an earlier mistake, beating Nick Leddy with a rebound of his own and converting it for a score for a 3-2 lead.
And perhaps more transformative than the turnaround itself was the fact that the Islanders held the lead for the final 19:05 of the game.
In contrast to the way they’ve been playing most of the season in those spots, turning their opponents to Patrick Mahomes, the Islanders defended hard, keeping the Blues on the outside and looking for opportunities to attack.
All of this resulted in a relatively drama-free one-goal victory. The situation still feels uncomfortable for a team that has spent most of the season in a poor position.
Any nerves disappeared when Matt Barzal scored into an empty net with 30 seconds left.
The score reflected a game in which the Islanders maintained positive momentum on the eye test as well as on the scoreboard, continuing to win puck battles, winning most possessions and increasing their shot count.
The Islanders took the lead in the first period, dominating the ball and creating opportunities, but were unable to solve Blues netminder Joel Hofer.
Hofer outplayed them early in the second goal, especially after a goaltender turnover, when he stood up and made a pad save on Simon Holmström’s chance to go into the open net.
It looked like it would be one of those nights after Horvat’s two turnovers gave the Blues a two-goal lead – first Alexei Trobchenko finished off a 2-on-1 break, then Jordan Kyrou had a chance. was used. He scored a goal right in front of the Islanders net.
Early in the season, that might have been the case.
But now the Islanders are imbued with a different kind of belief and confidence that helped them fight through Tuesday’s likely loss.
This is as good a sign as any dominant victory.
