SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Islanders set off across the country on Sunday, into a two-week stretch that looks like their moment to go from treading water in the playoff race into its deep end.
Yes, it is still early, but with Thanksgiving historically a key indicator — a hair over 75 percent of teams in playoff position at the holiday have made it since the 2005-06 lockout — the standings are inching closer to relevance.
More than that, this looks like a stretch in which the Islanders can and must rack up points. They are on the road for five of their next six, starting with Monday night’s tilt against the Sharks, but eight of their next nine games are against teams at or below .500 as of Sunday morning.
Not just that, but Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Ryan Pulock traveled out West with the Islanders. We’ve waited a long time to see what this team will look like with Barzal. The wait could end this week in California.
“Just exciting,” Victor Eklund told The Post on Saturday morning of Barzal’s impending return. “It’s cool to see how he managed to [shake] off his injury and come back. You can kinda tell, he wants to be out there.”
A cross-country road trip is never easy, but if you are waiting for easy, then this is the wrong line of business. What the Islanders have here is an opportunity, not only to put an ugly homestand behind them but also to prove to both their fans and the rest of the league that they should be taken seriously in the playoff race.
You can give the Islanders some credit for surviving the injuries to their forward corps as long as they have, but Pulock’s injury in Minnesota last week seemed to be a breaking point.
The Islanders’ last two games of the homestand that ended Saturday, losses to New Jersey and Carolina, were their two worst of the season by expected goals allowed at 5-on-5. The Devils game was their worst by an entire goal’s margin.
Those are two very good teams, but that also feels like a direct result of how stretched the defense is. The Islanders are asking Matthew Schaefer to carry a huge burden every night. Adam Pelech and Logan Stanley both played almost nonstop on the penalty kill Saturday too.
It didn’t help, of course, that the Islanders had to kill off four power plays with none of their own — a topic that was litigated plenty after the game.
“It’s also momentum. You never get a chance,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “You’re on your heels, which bleeds into the 5-on-5 game too, when the penalty disparity is that lopsided.”
Pulock, of the three injured players traveling, is believed to be the furthest from a return. He skated in a noncontact jersey Saturday morning, and his initial 2-4 week timeline would put a return in California on the earliest possible side.
Still, a rejuvenated forward group can have downstream effects. Barzal and Maccelli don’t just boost the top six; by bumping other players down the lineup, the Islanders can have better matchups throughout. If that means all four lines can possess the puck and get on the forecheck more — hallmarks of DeBoer’s system that were all but nonexistent as the ice tilt went against the Islanders at home — it will make life easier for the defense too.
The Islanders have spent most of the season so far happier with their process than dwelling on results, and that’s understandable. They’ve got a new coach and an injury-battered team, and the record is a respectable-enough 7-6-3 in the first leg of a long race.
After Monday, though, the season will be 20 percent through. At a certain point, the Islanders are what their record says they are, and that point is approaching fast.
Their chance to grab the season by the lapels is right in front of them.
