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It's better than never being late.
Had the islanders turned down a streak that they lost a week ago, they would have had enough time to try and recharge the playoffs late. Instead, a lot of weight was lifted from his shoulders after beating Wild 3-1 at UBS on Friday.
“Obviously we're not in a position to want to be involved,” Noah Dobson said after an incredible performance that included 18:55 ICE, power play goals and assists. “There have been many times last year when we thought we were falling down. It's one game, a couple's loss in another place, and that's what we think. That's our way of thinking. It's a great game tonight.”
Technically speaking, it's not finished yet.
The islanders are five points behind Montreal, and even in the game played, there are also red wings, blue jackets and rangers in front.
It would be Lloyd's Christmas, “so you say you have a chance” territory.
After Friday's victory, there's enough for some rallyaround flag rhetoric, and not enough for it to fall incredibly out of sight.
Playoffs or not, the islanders have no choice but to end the season with a good memo after coach Patrick Roy committed a play on Tuesday night, followed by Anthony Duclair's personal vacation, and after the wreckage of trains from the past two weeks hit Nadir.
On that memo, Friday had made some progress, but by the end of the night, everyone was looking ahead until Sunday. Alex Ovechkin is about to break the NHL's all-time goal record after tying Wayne Gretzky's 894 on Friday.
“We're going to focus on us,” Roy said when asked about Ovechkin. “I know it's difficult, but that's what we have to do.”
With Max Tsyplakov backed up on the second line and Matt Martin returned to the lineup for the first time since mid-January, the only option for the islanders at this point is to try and play the game as simple as possible, and try hard to defend from the rush.
It has a ceiling, but doesn't work every night, but on Friday it looked pretty effective against a wild team struggling with the finish line while trying to lock their own playoff spot.
After Mats Zuccarello led Minnesota to the second 1:42, the islanders quickly returned and controlled much of the game from there.
Casey Scizicas took just 36 seconds to answer Zuccarero's goal. I tilted the point shot from Dobson.
Just 1:44 later, Simon Holmstrom's 2-1 feed to Alexander Romanov took a 2-1 lead from Frederick Gordrow.
And there are some things I haven't heard much this season. The Islanders have consolidated their Power Play leads.
Dobson's one-off explosion from just below the blue line, 3:36, to the third third line, brought the lead to 3-1 on the islanders' third power play goal in four games.
“We played really well from start to finish,” Roy said. “We thought there would be a lot of jumps. We played really defensively. We had a good stick, we thought our forecheck was good. Offensively, we thought we managed the puck well and did all of them.”
For Tsyplakov, which Pac Management Roy repeatedly emphasizes, it was a night up and down.
His turnover rate in the islanders zone directly led to Zuccarero's goal, which led to the bank's former ranger snatching Illya Sorokin's mask-free pack.
However, a few minutes later, the Russians made up for it by feeding Holmstroms during the break and notching the assist.
“I love it when he's the first one on the pack and he's holding it,” Roy said. “He uses his body to protect the pack.”
As for Martin, he plays a 7:49 that is barely noticeable in the fourth line, and although sometimes it looks slow, good things rarely stand out for reasons.
It's slower than never snapping a losing streak. Slower than ever finding traction 5-4.
Where the islanders are now, no one complains about the two points.
Sunday and history awaits.
