Simon Holmstrom of the New York Islanders celebrates his winning...

Simon Holmstrom of the New York Islanders celebrates his winning shorthanded goal against the Anaheim Ducks at UBS Arena on Dec. 13, 2023. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett

The opportunity was there. The Islanders knew they had to take it.

The season’s longest stretch of games at UBS Arena was a chance to climb up the NHL standings. If they could beat some stiff competition.

“We were looking to take care of business,” Kyle Palmieri said before the Islanders concluded a six-game homestand against the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins on Friday night.

“It’s a weird way the schedule has worked out the first half of the year. Looking ahead to the end of December and January, some long road trips. We had an opportunity to feel good about our game and put ourselves in a good position. We’ve taken that opportunity and ran with it.”

The Islanders, continuing their strong play since mid-November, started the homestand 4-0-1 and brought a four-game winning streak into Friday’s match. That included overtime wins over the Kings, snapping their NHL record of 11 straight road victories to start the season, and the John Tavares-led Maple Leafs. They beat the bottom-dwelling Ducks and Blue Jackets.

This after the homestand started on a sour note with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Sharks that coach Lane Lambert dubbed “a sin.” The Islanders led that game 4-1 at 8:27 of the third period.

Still, they were on a 5-0-2 run at UBS Arena, their longest home point streak since the building opened in November 2021.

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Overall, the Islanders entered Friday 9-1-4 since Nov. 15. That dates to the tail end of an 0-4-3 skid during their western Canada swing that threatened to upend their season.

“I felt coming into the homestand we had started to play some pretty good hockey,” Lambert said. “We knew the homestand was a big stretch of games. I think we’ve done a pretty good job. Nothing’s perfect but we’ve committed to doing certain things very well and we’ve had some success doing it.

“When we weren’t winning, we felt like we were doing a lot of good things. There were some situations we needed to eliminate. For the most part, we’ve done that and we need to continue to do that. There’s a lot of season left.”

The strong start to the homestand vaulted the Islanders to second place in the Metropolitan Division.

“I think we’re showing that we can be more consistent and stay with it,” Pierre Engvall said. “We can play even better at the end of the games.

“When you lose games, it doesn’t feel good. I think we played good in a lot of the games earlier, too. We didn’t get the outcome. We stuck with it and fixed small details. I’m just happy to see points coming.”

The Islanders, who have blown 10 leads in the third period this season, struggled again with the lead in Wednesday’s 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Ducks. A two-goal lead in the second period turned into a 3-2 deficit at 5:07 of the third period.

But, if nothing else, the Islanders again seem very comfortable playing tight games late into regulation.

“This team wants to play to an identity and there’s things that make us successful,” Palmieri said. “We’re seeing glimpses of that. Looking back on that western Canada trip, there were stretches of three or four minutes that put us in a position that maybe we couldn’t climb ourselves out of.

“There were a lot of scenarios like that where there’s a lot of really good things but you’ve got to do your best to make sure those mistakes don’t end up in the back of your net and they don’t compound and end up in two or three goals.”

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