Islanders maintaining right mindset for playoff chase entering key matchup with Blue Jackets

The Islanders will take the ice against the Blue Jackets on Monday night at UBS Arena knowing a win will pull them even in points with the Canadiens, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot and who will have played one fewer game.

They also will skate out knowing a regulation loss to Columbus will allow the Blue Jackets to match them with 73 points. Both teams will have 12 games left in the regular season and will meet in Columbus on April 17 in the season finale.

It’s high stakes every time the Islanders — or Blue Jackets — play a game, and the key to thriving is knowing how to mentally handle the relentless challenge.

So far, so good for the Islanders despite Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames, a game in which they could not hold a one-goal lead with two minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation. They are on a 3-0-2 run and are 10-2-2 at home since Jan. 18 as they enter the third match of a four-game homestand.

It’s not that the Islanders prefer nail-biting situations, but they’ve had the right mindset to survive them.

“I wouldn’t say comfortable,” fourth-line center Kyle MacLean said after the Islanders conducted an optional practice on Sunday at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. “Every game really matters and you know the stakes of it. That’s our mindset right now is, down the stretch, every game matters and we’ve got to show up for them.”

Coach Patrick Roy left UBS Arena on Saturday and watched the end of the Canadiens’ home game against the Avalanche. It ended with former Islander Brock Nelson scoring the deciding goal in a shootout as the Avalanche won, 5-4. The Canadiens matched the point the Islanders earned earlier in the day.

Of course, the Avalanche did hold a 4-0 lead.

“It’s a fun time in that, when you’re in the middle of that race, you’re watching what the other teams do and how well they play and the things they do,” Roy said. “It will be a great test for us tomorrow to play Columbus. It will be interesting for us to see how we’re going to come [out].”

The Islanders have had early slips of late. Greenlawn’s Matt Coronato scored the first of his two goals to give the Flames a 1-0 lead 36 seconds into Saturday’s game. The Islanders ceded the first two goals to both the Panthers and the Penguins before rallying twice with four-goal third periods.

“They’re all close games,” Roy said. “It’s unreal. Montreal against Colorado, it’s a 4-1 game in the third period and you think it’s over and, bang, it’s 4-4. When you’re trailing by two goals against Florida or Pittsburgh and you find ways to come back, you get that urgency, that desperation to find a way to win those games. That’s the time of the year.”

The mental pressure along with the physical exertion of playing game after game in must-win situations is beyond taxing. The only way to avoid being overcome by the bigger picture is by focusing solely on the here and now.

So far, so good for the Islanders.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.