NEWARK, NJ — New York Islanders captain Anders Lee seemed almost sheepish when admitting that his team’s ridiculously packed schedule took a toll on them when I asked him about it following Thursday night’s 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
“Yeah, we’re feeling. The boys are feeling it,” he said quietly as he leaned in. “You could probably tell I’m feeling it.”
It was the final game of a grueling stretch. The Islanders played eight games in 13 nights before the NHL’s three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics, during which its players will be sent for the first time since 2014. Amidst that barrage was three games in three different cities in just four nights. They fell in Washington, D.C., to the Capitals on Monday night, then pulled out a 5-4 overtime win at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. On Thursday night, Bo Horvat broke a 1-1 deadlock with 3:27 left in regulation with his third goal in the last two games — as good a way to end it as he joins the vaunted Team Canada in Milan-Cortina for the Winter Games.
“No, I don’t, honestly [remember ever playing such a busy schedule],” Lee said. “We’re at the mercy of something great that’s coming up here in the Olympics, and it’s awesome that our league is in it, it really is, but it puts pressure on our schedule.”
There was no questioning that their legs were getting heavy. They were chasing the Penguins throughout most of Tuesday night’s win, which included a comeback in which they trailed 4-3 midway through the final frame. On Thursday, they were outshot 24-14 by a Devils team in full-on crisis mode, having lost four of its previous five before hosting the Islanders.
“I think we’re feeling it. I know I was,” defenseman Ryan Pulock told amNewYork. “At times, we just weren’t able to move our feet as well as we’d like. The schedule has been condensed, and there’s a lot of hockey, and sometimes, it becomes a bit of a mental game when you’re not feeling great physically. I think a lot of credit is owed to the guys for bearing down. Maybe it’s not pretty at all times, but they just worked until we found a way.”
The way they finished their pre-Olympic schedule might have been the crowning achievement of the Islanders’ surprising unofficial first half. They went 5-3-0 over that heavy final stretch and remain just one point behind the Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division, which is now something they get to sit on for the next three weeks.
Consider it a perch well-earned for a team that outside prognosticators expected little of this season.
“That’s what I love about this game sometimes is that it’s such a grind, and it’s that much more rewarding when you go out tonight and get two points,” Lee said. “You really feel accomplished in your task. I give a lot of credit to our group for finding ways to win in games where you don’t have your energy, your legs.”
More importantly comes the well-deserved rest. After playing 58 games before the Olympic break — only the Capitals have played more amongst Eastern Conference teams — the Islanders do not take the ice again until Feb. 26 in Montreal to face the Canadiens.
“I’m really proud of our group. This group is resilient,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “[This break is] gonna be good. We know we’re going to have a tough schedule coming back, but the fact that we played 58 games might give us a chance to not play as much as some other teams.”
