Isles face Devils as last hurdle to clear
As messy as the Islanders’ season has been, it’s fairly simple now. Beat the Devils. And that’s it. Beat the Devils and the Islanders will clinch third place in the Metropolitan Division and a likely firstround rematch against the Carolina team which beat them at the same hurdle a year ago.
Beat the Devils and the Islanders will have a chance to erase the exhausting ups and downs of this season.
Beat the Devils and it will not matter that the Islanders have lost more times than they have won this season, or that they hold a negative-21 goal differential, because they will have a chance to make history and memories this spring.
“We were in a tough spot. A lot of people counted us out,” Mathew Barzal told The Post following a short practice on Sunday afternoon. “Came together as a group and have given it everything we have. Every guy in here’s been committed the last three weeks more than I’ve maybe ever seen.”
On March 24 — just three weeks ago — the Islanders were behind the Red Wings, Capitals and Flyers in the standings by three, four and six points, respectively. They had played 71 games. None of the three ahead of them had played more than 72, and Washington had played just 70.
Since then, the Islanders are 7-1-1 and have surpassed all of those teams, riding a newfound resilience and the hot hand of Semyon Varlamov into a run that is on the cusp of saving the season.
The Islanders, technically, do not even have to win on Monday at Prudential Center to clinch. They will be locked into third place with an overtime loss if the Capitals lose and locked into the second wild card with an overtime loss, Capitals win and Detroit loss. Even a regulation loss could clinch a playoff berth if the Capitals and Red Wings both lose in regulation and the Penguins lose as well.
But clinching with a loss would put a slight damper on the occasion.
“Our objective is trying to finish third in our division,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We still have to win one more game if we want to see that happening.”
When did that become the goal? “Today. Right now at this moment,” he said. “That make sense? Cause it’s right there.
“Quite honestly, I should not have said that. The focus is about playing every game and now that it’s there, we still have to focus on the game.”
Roy, who entered the fold in midJanuary after Lane Lambert was fired, is deservedly at the center of the Islanders’ turnaround, having injected a combination of gravitas, honesty and energy into a team that was in dire need of all three. Even since he has gotten here, though, this has been a particularly bizarre season, with haunting themes of late-game collapse and special teams issues.
“Right before this, we were having a period a night that was killing us,” Anders Lee told The Post. “You’re still gonna have momentum swings and all that stuff, but I think our consistency throughout each game is much, much better. And I think that’s why we’re getting more consistent results night in and night out.”
The Islanders have finally found a balanced combination of forward lines over the last six games, dovetailing with that consistency at five-on-five. In turn, that has allowed them to get through bad stretches on special teams, which have still not quite been fixed.
In prior matchups against the Devils, that has been the issue for the Islanders. Across the three games the two teams have played, all losses for the Islanders, New Jersey is 6 of 13 on the power play while allowing the Islanders just one goal in 11 tries at five-on-four.
But this is a group with a changed mentality since March 24, when a 4-0 loss to the Devils marked a low point. It is a group that believes.
“Everybody’s bought in and played a certain way,” Barzal said. We’ve been connected as a team. Also, we’ve been playing with serious desperation. That can go a long way. I think the commitment from everybody, the dedication from everybody, the will to want to be in the playoffs and want to play, it’s really propelled us.”
Beat the Devils and it will propel them right into the postseason.