As a reward for their valiant effort Thursday in Minnesota to knock off the Western Conference leader in points, the Islanders next host back-to-back dates with the league’s two leaders in points percentage. Before the reigning champions come to UBS Arena late next week, they’ll start with Connor McDavid and the Oilers on Saturday afternoon.
Such is the relentlessness of an NHL season, but as three-game homestands go, the Oilers, Hurricanes and Devils — the latter having added all-world goaltender Connor Hellebuyck last week to level up a notch — is about as tough a week as any team could face.
The Islanders have gotten points in seven of their last eight and kept their game at a high level despite an injury pile-up, with Ryan Pulock added Thursday. The last two of those matches, which came on the road at Nashville and Minnesota, were two of their most convincing 60 minutes.
It is as if the hockey gods laughed and told the Islanders to go prove it some more.
“I think we just gotta keep it rolling,” Matthew Schaefer said after scoring the overtime winner to down the Wild in St. Paul, Minn. “Learn from this road trip and keep going.”
Easier said than done, of course.
If Pulock is unable to go Saturday, as expected, the Islanders likely will insert Matt Kessel into the lineup. They had not called anyone up as of Friday afternoon, an indication they could start the homestand with just 12 healthy forwards and six healthy defensemen on their roster.
The reason to believe they can get away with it against some of the league’s best offenses, starting with the McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard-led Oilers —whose 9-2-2 start has established them as Stanley Cup contenders under coach Mike Babcock — lies in the way the Islanders have embraced Pete DeBoer’s system.
“I think it starts with our leaders in here,” defenseman Logan Stanley said. “You look at a guy like Bo Horvat, Brayden Schenn, [Kyle Palmieri]. They’re playing the right way. When guys see that, it forces them to play the right way too. Pete’s got a great system in place for us. When those guys lead the way, everyone follows.”
While the Islanders held their own Thursday against what has statistically been the best forward line in hockey — Minnesota’s trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy — Edmonton’s top line of McDavid, Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin has averaged a ridiculous 6.04 goals per 60 minutes, with McDavid on a record-torching 232-point pace.
Another juicy Saturday subplot: After Schaefer got the better of Quinn Hughes on Thursday, how will he fare against Bouchard, the clubhouse leader for the Norris Trophy right now? With the Islanders at home, it’s likely DeBoer will want Schaefer matched up against Bouchard and the Oilers top line as much as possible.
Reigning champion Carolina is not loaded with superstars in the same way, but the Hurricanes’ pressure-heavy system has given the Islanders fits in recent years — the Hurricanes swept the season series last year, including a 4-3 win in Raleigh, N.C., that prompted general manager Mathieu Darche to swap Patrick Roy for DeBoer behind the bench.
Now the Islanders have a style they’re starting to believe in the same way as Rod Brind’Amour’s club.
“When we’re in those systems playing Islanders hockey, no one can play against us,” Schaefer said Thursday. “It’s tough to play against. It frustrates the other team. So I think we just stuck to our game there [against the Wild] from start to finish. We played some good hockey.”
Keep on doing it at home and the rest of the league might stop and take notice.
