There are plenty of great options for the spot at a time in the Islanders’ season when things seemed to be at their bleakest.
After losing in overtime against Chicago on January 19, Lane Lambert was fired and replaced by Patrick Roy, resulting in a record of 19 wins, 15 losses, and 11 draws.
In mid-February, they were eliminated in the Stadium Series against the Rangers, the most emotionally devastating loss in a season filled with Rangers games.
A six-game losing streak in March was immediately followed by a six-game winning streak, during which the Islanders’ playoff hopes appeared to be gone.
But I can’t argue with the moments when things look their brightest.
right now.
On Monday night, the Islanders beat the Devils 4-1 at the Prudential Center, clinching a playoff berth and third place in the East Division, giving them a 2007-style romp. The chase reached its climax as the unsuspecting boat rocked back and forth to the point of inducing seasickness. By giving fans something to celebrate.
They will face the Hurricanes in the first round starting this weekend, a rematch of the series they lost in six games at the same time last season.
“There was a lot of noise,” Cal Clutterbuck said inside the locker room, where reporters shouted triumphantly before being allowed in. “A lot of people said we weren’t meant to do that. A lot of people said we were too late, too old, this and that. But we… I accomplished that.”
This isn’t about the Georgia Bulldogs throwing out some laughable metaphor about no one believing in us. This was the conventional wisdom around the Islanders until at least two weeks ago. It’s too old, too slow, and we’re paying the price for organizational inertia.
But a 7-0-1 losing streak over the last eight games capped off by this victory over the Devils, never in doubt, made a mockery of conventional wisdom.
“I’m very, very, very proud,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We played very good hockey until the end. They were resilient and worked together. I think we learned how to win.”
Shift by shift, this wasn’t the best game the Islanders have played. But this is eight games where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, and Monday night was no different.
Other than the second goal, Timo Meier’s goal at 3:25 to make it 2-1, there was never a moment when the result was in doubt. Brock Nelson took a spilled puck and put it in the box at 11:48, extending the lead to two points and the Islanders never looked back.
Otherwise, the night became a checklist of checking all the boxes. He scored a goal to make it 4-1 after Kyle MacLean was ruled to start the game while suffering from flu-like symptoms. Kyle Palmieri’s goal was his 29th of the year, one goal away from tying his career high and ending his power play streak at 12 games in the process. The penalty kill was perfect at 3-on-3. Semyon Varlamov repelled 23 of 24 shots in another rarely troubled performance.
“I think everyone realized how close we were to making the playoffs, and then everyone was proactive,” Varlamov said of the past eight games. “Everyone started believing in themselves game by game. With each game we won, we became more and more confident.”
It’s been a very strange season, but the Islanders won in completely normal fashion. The “other shoe” fell on them so many times that by Monday they ran out of ammunition.
Now they’ll sit back and enjoy watching the Capitals, Red Wings and Penguins battle it out for the last playoff spot in the East. That will probably give us a spoiler for Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh.
“I think confidence comes from building up enough evidence in your favor that you are who you think you are and can say you are who you are,” Clutterbuck told the Post. “And I think if you do that enough times, you can get enough wins to qualify for the playoffs, which is a good thing in this league. And I think a lot of confidence should come from that.” We needed to do a lot in these 30 games, and we accomplished that.”
They have a 17-10-4 record in 31 games since the All-Star break. It was enough to take the game in stride and exorcise some demons in the process.
“I think there were some things we needed to fix and we were able to fix them, but I also think we had a lot of bad luck for a while with teams scoring late in games and losing,” Clutterbuck said. “But none of it matters. None of it matters right now.
“We have a chance to be a part of it. That’s all you can ask for.”
