5 straight wins give the Islanders some playoff chase momentum, provided they can overcome injuries
![Tony DeAngelo of the New York Islanders skates against the...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AOTk1OGI4OGUtMzE0Ny00%3AMmUxZTk5ZDQtYzNiZC00%2Fspisles250126.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Tony DeAngelo of the New York Islanders skates against the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena on Jan. 25, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders breathed life back into their season with a five-game winning streak to conclude their seven-game homestand. In an Eastern Conference filled with few, if any, dominant teams, they have every right to believe they can make a playoff push similar to last season when an 8-0-1 finish secured a berth.
Their challenging three-game road trip starts Thursday night against the Flyers, one of the teams they’re chasing for a wild-card berth and continues Saturday night against the Lightning, another wild-card contender. After Sunday night's game against the Stanley Cup champion Panthers, the Isles will have a good indication of how sustainable a run is with their injury-depleted lineup.
Because attrition is now their biggest hurdle in their uphill climb, whereas it used to be inconsistent play.
Defensemen Noah Dobson (lower body), Ryan Pulock (upper body) and backup goalie Marcus Hogberg (upper body) were all injured during the homestand, and defenseman Mike Reilly remains out indefinitely as well.
President/general manager Lou Lamoriello signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo out of the KHL and acquired Scott Perunovich from the Blues, plugged them into the lineup and the winning continued, even as the Avalanche spent the first two periods of the Islanders’ gutsy 5-2 victory on Tuesday night at UBS Arena taking advantage of the patchwork defense.
The defense must coalesce quickly — the Islanders won’t be able to will themselves to wins on a nightly basis — as they also host Vegas and play road games against the Jets and Wild before the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Those three teams are all but certain to earn playoff spots.
And with back-to-back games against both the Lightning and Panthers as well as Jets and Wild, Lamoriello likely will be in the market for backup goalie with more NHL experience than Jakub Skarek, who has yet to play a minute.
“I’m taking it one game at a time,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I’m not thinking about what’s going to happen after the Philly game. I think I learned a lot from last season. How many times did I come back here [conducting a postgame news conference] and everybody thought we were going to miss the playoffs? I think it happened maybe 10 times where it was like, ‘Oh, your season is over.’ No, just play games and focus on that one game at a time.
“Now we’re playing some very good hockey. Let’s be ready for Philly.”
The Islanders split two games with the Flyers on the homestand, losing 5-3 on Jan. 16 — their last defeat — and winning 3-1 on Friday in their first game without Dobson. DeAngelo joined the lineup for Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Hurricanes and Perunovich made his debut against the Avalanche.
The Islanders struggled with their breakouts from the defensive zone over the first 40 minutes against the Avalanche, and that’s not just on the defensemen.
The forwards must do a better job in support.
“Yeah, it’s big,” Anders Lee said. “I think we could have done a better job of that at times, just getting open for them.”
That’s part of the improvement the Islanders’ new-look lineup must show on this road trip.
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