Isles dig in for one final playoff push

Hope end of eight-game slide sparks big run down the stretch

March 13, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Doug Weight and the Islanders are skating on thin ice when it comes to their playoff hopes. New York is seven points out of the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference with only 13 games left on the schedule. AP Photo by Gene J. Puskar

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At this point last season, the Islanders were tied with Toronto for the final available playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 13 games to play.

They proceeded to go 8-4-1, including a regular season-ending six-game winning streak, only to fall a single point shy of the Maple Leafs for the East’s second wild card.

It will likely take an even more torrid finish for New York to make some noise in the postseason race this year.

Despite ending a season-high eight-game losing streak (0-4-4) with Sunday’s 5-2 win at Calgary, the Isles (30-29-10) find themselves eight points back of New Jersey for the final available playoff spot with 13 games left.

“We know we’re in a corner and we have to win as many games as we can,” said Isles veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk after amassing a goal, an assist and finishing with a plus-5 rating in the win over the Flames.

That corner was exactly what head coach Doug Weight was trying to avoid this season.

Weight, who took over for long-time head coach Jack Capuano just before the turn of the New Year last season, guided the Isles to a 24-12-4 finish, but that ultimately wasn’t enough to return the team to the playoffs for a second straight season since arriving here on the Downtown scene.

He reminded his team throughout the offseason and training camp that a slow start would not be acceptable in 2017-18, his first full year at the helm.

The Isles burst out of the gate with a 15-7-2 start as Weight continued to emphasize the importance of not having to scramble for points down the stretch.

But with December came a malaise that the soon-to-be-relocated franchise hasn’t been able to shake off.

Since the beginning of the final month of 2017, the Isles have gone a brutal 15-22-8, including 1-1-2 on their recently completed road trip.

The win over the Flames saw the Isles score more than three goals in a game for the first time in 13 contests, ending an offensive drought that plummeted them from second in the league in goals per game to eighth (3.17).

New York’s penchant for giving up shots also reared its ugly head again Sunday as the Isles surrendered 52, but 50 of those attempts were stopped by neophyte goaltender Christopher Gibson, making just his third start of the season.

“It’s a big win, we had to get a win,” Weight said. “There’s not too much critiquing going on, just excited to get a win.

“[Gibson] was really good, he made some big saves,” Weight added. “He fed off his first two games and looked really comfortable. He’s playing really well. They shoot the puck. They had 14 or 15 shots on the power play as well, so it was a big test for him… he passed.”

Whether or not the Isles will pass their final test, a 13-game stretch with nine of those contests to be played at the Barclays Center, is anyone’s guess at this point.

A season that has featured the announcement of plans to move into a sparkling new arena in Belmont, the split of homes games between Barclays and the renovated Nassau Coliseum over the next three seasons, and the ongoing John Tavares free agency saga have left little room to evaluate the on-ice product, which has failed miserably over the past several months.

If the Isles are to make a significant push for a playoff spot, that drive will begin Thursday night here on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, where New York will host Alex Ovechkin, fresh off his 600th career goal, and the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

“Something’s got to give, especially if you just keep doing the right things,” Boychuk said wistfully.