New York Islanders Need To Let These Good Times Keep Rolling

Last night, for the first time since Jaroslav Halak’s stick-smashing episode in January, the New York Islanders have strung together a couple of wins in a row. The Isles hope to continue their streak of improved play this week.

New York Islanders backup goaltender Thomas Greiss looked fantastic last night, leading the Isles to their first consecutive wins since they won three games in a row from 1/5-1/15. In a game with a ton of playoff implications, the Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes convincingly, 3-0.

In doing so, the Isles jumped over both the ‘Canes and the Columbus Blue Jackets to slide into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With one of the easiest remaining schedules in the NHL, the Islanders are putting themselves in a favorable position as they head towards the home stretch.

By getting hot at the right time, the New York Islanders can not only find their identity, they could hypothetically be heading into the postseason with a head full of steam (and hopefully a new player or two before the February 26th trade deadline).

New York Islanders need quality performances from here on out

Although the New York Islanders have one of the less-challenging schedules in the league, that doesn’t mean they can take a night off here and there. They’ve put themselves in this position with their poor play at times throughout the season.

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Now a bad-beat to an inferior team could decide whether the Isles find themselves in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a tough week ahead of them, this is no time for the Islanders to take their foot off of the pedal.

They face the Minnesota Wild at home on Monday and then head to Toronto to play the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

These will both be great tests for the New York Islanders. Both of these are quality teams who are both playing fantastic hockey as of late.

The Islanders then head to New Jersey on Saturday in a divisional matchup with their wild-card rivals, the Devils.

Following these three treacherous games, the Isles then have a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens next week (Wednesday/Friday).

These next few games could leave the New York Islanders in a handful of different situations. They can run the table and find themselves near the top of the Metro Division. Or, they could lose all five games and start looking towards 2019.

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Or, of course, the Islanders will do their best Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde impression over the next ten days and find themselves in the exact same spot they are currently in. Puck’s in your zone, Isles.