Turning the tide
Hickey's OT goal saves day for reeling Isles
After sinking to the bottom of the NHL standings, the Islanders didn’t care they barely escaped with a win Monday night when Thomas Hickey scored in overtime for a 2-1 victory. The details hardly mattered. And you could hardly blame them for not being too introspective, coming on a night that saw a small, mostly angry crowd of 10,772 at Barclays Center that came to see a struggling Islanders team.
The fans wasted no time calling for head coach Jack Capuano’s job, beginning before the puck even dropped.
But John Tavares’ goal at 7:28 of the first period quieted the mob — at least temporarily.
And after a shaky third period saw the Flames tie the game and then the Isles fail to get a shot off on a late power play, the Isles responded by finishing off a Calgary team that was playing on the road for the third time in four nights 1:53 into the extra session, as Tavares found Hickey, while the Flames scrambled to make a change.
“We’ll try to build on it,’’ Tavares said. “Each game for us is crucial. Obviously, we haven’t started the year the way we wanted to, but we have a lot of hockey left.”
In order to turn their season around, the Isles will need more performances like this from Tavares, who scored for the first time in 10 games in the first period thanks to a terrific no-look pass from Josh Bailey and then set up Hickey in OT.
“I wanted to shoot it,” Tavares said. “I think everyone wanted me to shoot it. ... I didn’t want get it blocked and [Hickey] was ready for it and made a good tip. In general, we just needed to come through and get a big goal.”
Especially since they have been on the wrong side of those lategame goals lately.
This time, Thomas Greiss did enough to keep the Isles in the game and stopped 25 shots to allow the offense enough time to score again.
“We had chances on the power play and we didn’t execute,” Capuano said. “That could’ve given us the edge. We couldn’t get anything going, but we found a way.”
And it was hardly a surprise that Tavares played a part in the most significant goal of the game.
“You definitely want the puck in his hands when game is on the line,” Capuano said. “Since I’ve been here, as Johnny goes, we go. Everybody sometimes thinks he gets frustrated when he doesn’t get points, but he does more than just get points.”
In the end, the Isles got two points to at least match Arizona’s 18 for some company in the NHL basement, albeit having played one more game than the Coyotes.
Monday was the first of five of six — and seven of nine — at home.
Considering the fact the Islanders have just one win on the road, they will need to take advantage of the upcoming schedule.
And they know a similar effort Wednesday against the Penguins probably won’t be sufficient to win a second straight game. But that’s an issue for another day.
“I don’t think we’re gonna complain right now about wins,” Tavares said. “We know we can still be a lot better.”