The Islanders haven’t looked like the best versions of themselves in a while, and they didn’t break that streak Thursday.
What they did do was drag themselves over the line and into the NHL’s Olympic pause, as Bo Horvat gave his team a late winner and a 3-1 victory over the Devils at the Prudential Center in his last game before flying to Italy to represent Team Canada.
The break, to put it mildly, is badly needed, with the Islanders feeling the effects of a condensed schedule over the last month through which they barely managed to tread water.
There were points on Thursday where it looked like they would finally succumb.
The Islanders took on more pressure as the game went. They struggled to hit the net, with just seven shots on goal through 40 minutes despite 38 attempts. They ceded chances off the rush and managed the puck poorly against a Devils side without Jack Hughes and with far more reason to have their minds on the beach than the Islanders.
Thanks to Ilya Sorokin and Adam Pelech, whose kick-save block on Lenni Hameenaho’s one-timer at 11:07 of the second stopped a no-doubt goal, the Islanders still went into the third tied at one, with every chance at redeeming themselves.
The Islanders did pick their game back up in the last 20 minutes, with Ondrej Palat, Marc Gatcomb and Simon Holmstrom all accounting for good chances in front.
Like much of the night, though, the flow seemed missing from both teams, and the Islanders were not doing much with what they were given.
Finally, with 3:27 to go, Bo Horvat mugged Nico Hischier off a faceoff in the Islanders’ zone and backhanded the puck past Jake Allen for a 2-1 lead.
The Islanders’ Olympian, sending them into the break the right way before Mat Barzal’s empty-netter sealed it with 23 seconds left.
Casey Cizikas had opened the scoring at the 6:30 mark of the second following a first period in which the Islanders had largely controlled possession, cleaning up his own rebound off Kyle MacLean’s feed.
That was when the New Jersey rush started giving the Islanders fits, and instead of rush chances the Islanders were soon ceding outright pressure. Nico Hischier scored the inevitable tying goal from Jesper Bratt at the 18:26 mark, soon after Ryan Pulock had cleared Bratt’s shot off the line.
Though Cal Ritchie provided a jolt of energy in his return from a lower-body injury, the Islanders played a perimeter game at best on Thursday.
Less generously, they managed the puck poorly, with Jonathan Drouin guilty of one of the season’s most heinous turnovers toward the end of the first period.
Emil Heineman accounted for a number of chances, but was one of the guiltiest players when it came to hitting the net.
The bottom six, though, made up for it.
The fourth line put in a workmanlike effort. JG Pageau had a great night at the dots and his line with Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom was up ice regularly.
The top line, quiet through two periods, woke up in the third in a big way.
It wasn’t pretty. It hasn’t been lately. Surviving the last few weeks counts as a win of sorts.
Now it is rest, regroup, regather and hope that when they return, the Islanders do not just survive, but thrive.
