With Only 10 Games Remaining, Islanders’ Road Is Still Uphill

With only 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Islanders are in a dog fight with Washington, Pittsburgh, and Boston for first place in the East Division.

On Tuesday, the Islanders (29-13-4) and Bruins (26-12-6) each collected two points to pull closer to the division-leading Capitals (29-13-4), who were idle. The Islanders and Capitals own identical records, but Washington holds the advantage in regulation wins with 24 to 21 for the Islanders.

Night, #Isles fam pic.twitter.com/4IkLRqtTlI

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 21, 2021

The division leader and No. 1 seed will likely come down to the next three games for the Islanders because they are all against the Capitals. The Islanders are home to the Caps on Thursday and Saturday before hitting the road in Washington for the third game in the set on Tuesday.

The Islanders are finished with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they have another game with the Bruins, which will end the regular season on May 10.

Home Is Safe Haven

The Islanders have two more against the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils. The NYI have five at home and five on the road. Home has been a safe haven for the Islanders, who became the first team to record 40 home points this season (19-2-2).

The next week will tell a lot about how the Islanders will perform in the postseason. They have struggled lately, having scored only two goals on their three-game road trip. But Tuesday night’s emphatic 6-1 victory over the Rangers should settle some nerves and raise confidence levels.

For one, the Islanders’ power play went 1-for-3 that snapped an 0-for-14 skid.

One of the most satisfying stories for the Islanders has to be the play of Anthony Beauvillier, who scored a goal and chipped in with three assists. His production matched a single-game career-high for points. The last time he scored four points in a game was on Nov. 15, 2018 when he collected three goals and an assist.

New-Look Line

Beauvillier was skating on a new-look third line with center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Josh Bailey against the Rangers and they were dynamic all night.

“All three of those guys were good,” coach Barry Trotz said. “Everyone knows (Bailey) is a very cerebral, smart player. They just fit, but they were working. When (Bailey) has that good balance between the cerebral part of the game and the blue-collar type of game that you can mix in, he gets a lot done.”

Stop. Score. Roll. pic.twitter.com/s82bKcun25

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 21, 2021

The trio used speed and tenacity against the Rangers to combine for nine points (four goals, five assists). Bailey had two goals and a helper while Pageau had a goal and an assist. It’s was a good sign for Bailey, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with an undisclosed injury.

“To have Josh back in the lineup is big, not only on the ice, but in the locker room,” Pageau said. “Just the influence he has on everyone and the leadership he brings, it’s big. To play with him, I feel very lucky.”

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Beauvillier Rebounding

It’s been a tough season for Beauvillier, who missed nine games early in the season with an injury. Lately, he’s been mired in a slump. Prior to Tuesday, he had gone seven games without scoring a goal. And even against the Rangers, he had only one shot on goal in 16:14 of ice time.

“Beauvillier was everywhere on the ice tonight,” Pageau said. “He was moving his feet and winning all his battles, so it was a fun game for sure.”

Right spot.

Right time.

3-0 #Isles. pic.twitter.com/IxD0mCsyA1

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 21, 2021

For the season, the 23-year-old winger has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 37 games. Beauvillier loves playing the Rangers. He now has collected 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in 19 career games against the Blueshirts.

“Everything I touched seemed to go in,” Beauvillier said. “Those kind of nights, you just try to appreciate it and go from there. I thought our line and the whole group was really going well tonight. It was one of those nights where you just try to take advantage of it and appreciate it.”

Mantha On A Roll

The Capitals are going to be a handful for the Islanders. New acquisition Anthony Mantha has enjoyed the change of scenery since the trade from Detroit with five goals in his last five games. In their season series, the Capitals lead 3-2. They won the first three games of the series, before the Islanders took the last two.

It’s hard to know which Islander team shows up. On April 1, the offensive ability of the Islanders was on display as they beat the Capitals 8-4. That was the game when Mathew Barzal scored three goals and Jordan Eberle added two more.

Barzal had a lot of juice that night. But the game turned low scoring the next time the Islanders faced the Capitals a week later. They got a goal by Brock Nelson in the third period, and Semyon Varlamov did the rest, making 29 saves for the 1-0 shutout.

There seems to be no pattern to the Islanders this season. But the good thing is they can win a lot of different ways. They can win a freewheeling game like Tuesday night and they can play it safe and use patience to wear down opponents.

Like the saying goes, playing against the Capitals is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. And that’s both exciting and troubling for Islanders fans heading into the most important three games of the regular season.