What a difference six minutes can make for the New York Islanders.
After scoring just three goals in their previous three games and staring down a fourth-straight loss to make lean playoff hopes all the more slim, a stagnant offense came alive by scoring three goals in just 6:04 in the third period of Sunday night’s game against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers to spark a 4-2 victory.
Trailing 2-0 entering the final frame, Marc Gatcomb’s wraparound got the Islanders on the board with 13:31 left in regulation. Maxim Tsyplakov, who had drawn the ire of head coach Patrick Roy after a pair of bad turnovers earlier in the week, tied the game 5:47 later when he beat Vitek Vanacek on a breakaway.
Noah Dobson put the Islanders ahead just 17 seconds later after streaking down the left wing, switching to his forehand, and potting a wrister into the roof of the net.
“It was nice to see that comeback,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “… Seeing our guys be resilient and find a way to get some goals made me really proud of them, because they work hard. It’s fun to watch.”
The Islanders have 68 points through 66 games played, a mediocre points percentage of 51.5% — their second lowest since the start of the 2018-19 season. They appear ready to make sweeping changes to a roster that has kept its core together for much of the last seven years, beginning so at the trade deadline when they dealt Brock Nelson, who spent 12 years with the franchise and is a top-five scorer in team history, to the Colorado Avalanche.
After the trade deadline passed on March 7, general manager Lou Lamoriello then all but guaranteed considerable changes this offseason.
Yet with 16 games remaining, the Islanders are still hanging around the playoff picture in the East, which is perhaps an indictment of how insignificant the lower half of the conference is.
They woke up on Monday just four points out of the second Wild Card spot, which is currently held by the New York Rangers (72 points), who have played two more games than the Islanders. However, there are still three teams — the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Detroit Red Wings — who sit between the New York clubs in the standings. Montreal (71 points) and Columbus (70) have also played 66 games, while the Red Wings (70) have played 67.
A loss on Sunday would have ensured a six-point deficit, which feels an awful lot larger than four this time of year.
“We knew what was at stake,” team captain Anders Lee said. “We knew the opportunity tonight to keep ourselves relevant… We needed a comeback win. When you’re playing from behind, every once in a while you got to pull one out, and we did a great job doing that.”
