Resurgent Isles entering playoff mode

Climb Within Four Points of Wild-Card Spot with Win Over Columbus

January 25, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Veteran winger Jason Chimera celebrates his game-sealing goal Tuesday night at Barclays Center, as well as the Islanders’ ongoing re-entry into the Eastern Conference playoff chase. AP photo

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Winners of four of their last five games, the New York Islanders are suddenly back in serious playoff contention.

No, really, they are.

“We just have to keep chugging along,” veteran winger Jason Chimera said after scoring his fifth goal in seven games during Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in front of 11,419 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

Josh Bailey, Nikolay Kulemin and Brock Nelson also scored, and team captain John Tavares picked up a pair of assists as New York picked up a point for the fifth straight contest and improved to 3-1 since Doug Weight replaced Jack Capuano as head coach to kick off this ongoing six-game homestand.

“We dug ourselves a hole early this season and we’re trying to get out of it,” added Chimera after the Isles inched within four points of Toronto for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

“Guys have been playing well of late and we just have to keep on going. We have no time to rest, we’re in playoff mode right now. We just have to keep on going.”

Though they remain in a six-way deadlock for the fewest points (49) in the conference, the Isles hold two and three games in hand, respectively, on two of the teams they are trying to climb over — Florida (50 points) and Philadelphia (52).

With 36 regular-season games to play, New York appears poised to make a serious late-season run at its third consecutive playoff berth, and fourth in five seasons.

The Isles will continue that quest here Thursday night against Montreal in their final game before the All-Star break.

“Top to bottom, one of the best efforts of the year,” Weight said of Tuesday night’s triumph, which saw the Isles go down a goal before reeling off four straight tallies to take command against the Blue Jackets.

“We just played one of the best three teams in the league in the first half of the season. We did a pretty good job.”

Thomas Greiss made 21 saves to pick up his third win in four starts for New York, which improved to 14-8-5 on home ice this season.

Nick Foligno opened the scoring for Columbus 8:55 into the first period, but the Isles caught a break on a lucky bounce early in the second to knot the contest.

Bailey’s attempt at a pass in front of Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky caught the skate of defenseman Seth Jones and slid into the net, making it 1-1 at 2:21 of the period.

“It was pretty obvious I was trying to make the pass there,” Bailey admitted after registering his 100th career goal.

“Kulemin got open, and it hit a skate and went in. When guys are getting to the net and you get pucks there, fortunate bounces do happen sometimes.”

Kulemin’s presence alongside Bailey and Tavares on the Isles’ top line proved to be fortunate as well.

Anders Lee was forced out of Tuesday’s contest due to an illness, paving the way for Kulemin to benefit from the play-making skills of Tavares, who set up his go-ahead goal at 16:29 of the second period.

“Kulemin really stepped up and played a great hockey game,” Weight said of the 30-year-old Russian winger. “He really stepped up and answered that role.”

Nelson’s 10th tally of the year came just 35 seconds into the final stanza, and Chimera’s unassisted goal less than five minutes later gave New York a 4-1 cushion.

“We just buckled down, we played better defensively, we played more structured in the neutral zone, [forced] turnovers and it led to a lot of time in their zone,” Chimera noted.

Following Thursday’s game with the Canadiens, the Isles will enjoy their four-day break before wrapping up this six-game stand on Jan. 31 against Metropolitan Division-leading Washington.

Isle Have Another: After sitting out the previous four games with an upper-body injury, Andrew Ladd returned to action Tuesday night, blocking a shot and delivering four hits in 15 minutes and 40 seconds of ice time. The 31-year-old winger, who was the poster child for New York’s disappointing first-half performance after inking a seven-year, $38.5 million contract this summer, indicated his eagerness to contribute to the Isles’ bid for a late postseason push. “I just wanted to be a part of the way we’ve been playing the last little bit, last five games and have put ourselves back in the position where we can get into the playoff race,” Ladd said. “You try to inject some energy, some emotion into getting back in the lineup and just want to be a part of winning some hockey games. I’m excited to get back in there.” Ladd has only produced eight goals in 42 games for the Isles this year after scoring at least 23 in each of the previous three seasons.