Kyle Palmieri helped provide the shot in the arm necessary for the Islanders to end a miserable streak in which they lost six consecutive games and 10 of 11 — recording two assists in the 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night at UBS Arena.
He’s had four helpers in his first three games back from a lengthy IR stint that held him out 27 of 28 games, and now he’s looking to help turn things around to get the Islanders’ season (24-22-5, 54 points) back on track as they sit five points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“You go through ups and downs and I think over the course of the season, it’s never all good,” Palmieri said. “It’s usually never all bad.”
After all, there’s no other option. Despite the Islanders’ miserable stretch that has witnessed a woeful offensive attack that has mustered just 20 goals in its last 12 games and a power-play that is 3-for-its-last-63, the 31-year-old winger is certain this team is different from some of the other struggling teams he played on in the past (Anaheim ducks, New Jersey Devils).
“I’ve been on bad teams before, this is not the feeling here,” Palmieri said. “We knew it was going to turn. It’s incredibly hard sometimes to believe that, but we knew it and we have one more game here before the break to feel good and get on a little bit of a streak.”
Regardless of the level of belief in the locker room, this is likely the last opportunity for the core of this Islanders group to prove that they can make one more postseason run. Two straight Stanley Cup semifinal appearances made way to a COVID and injury-riddled playoff-less 2021-22 campaign that resulted in the firing of head coach Barry Trotz.
First-year head coach Lane Lambert has been unable to recapture the magic as of yet with a roster that has 17 carryovers from the team that made the Stanley Cup semifinal in 2021.
“You have guys that have been around a while… as an organization, as a team, some of these guys have been through some not-great years. I think for the most part, there are some young guys in here but I think as a team and the way our team leads, it’s something you’ve got to believe in,” Palmieri said. “It’s usually not as bad as you think it is and it’s one bounce, one period away. A momentum shift away… That’s really all you can say is we were not sitting around waiting for it. We wanted to go out there and seize the opportunity.”
