Islanders' win over Penguins shows they are figuring out how to get by

OTTAWA — The Islanders see themselves as that scrappy underdog team that will work harder than opponents to earn points.

Look, perception isn’t always reality, but circumstances — read: injuries — have somewhat played into the Islanders’ hands.

“Just staying level-headed,” Bo Horvat said. “Not getting down on ourselves. Not getting frustrated, even though it’s tough sometimes. We’ve got a positive group in here.”

They are shorthanded but have the potential to scrape by and, thus, earn some needed confidence, because some players earning a bigger role with the lineup injury-depleted are stepping up. We’re looking at you, third-liners Simon Holmstrom and, yes, for now, Pierre Engvall, defenseman Grant Hutton and, maybe, if the Islanders cross their fingers tight enough, rookie defenseman Isaiah George. We’ll get to these players shortly.

Top-liner Anthony Duclair (right leg) has been out since Oct. 19. Top-liner Mathew Barzal (upper body) and top-four defenseman Adam Pelech (jaw) are out four to six weeks. Defensemen Alexander Romanov (upper body) and Mike Reilly (concussion) have missed three games and are day to day with no indication whether they’ll be ready to face the Senators on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

The Islanders enter the match 5-6-2 — albeit still with just two regulation wins — after rallying from two goals down in the third period for a 4-3 shootout win over the Penguins on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.

The Islanders scraped by the struggling Penguins because their special teams finally made a real impact, killing off three of four power plays, including one in overtime and one after an unsuccessful offside challenge that could have turned the game completely, and scoring once in four man-advantages, though not on their overtime chance.

Here are some positive advanced analytics while skating five-on-five, per NaturalStatTrick.com: The Islanders are eighth in the NHL in Corsi For percentage (52.42), 10th in shot for percentage (51.46), sixth in expected goals for percentage (53.87) and eighth in high-danger goals for percentage (57.14). So they are possessing the puck and getting their chances.

Holmstrom and Engvall have sandwiched versatile Casey Cizikas on a new third line. Engvall, since his recall from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, has been effective using his speed to beat opponents to pucks and has been more aggressive going to the net rather than hanging on the periphery. All reasons he was signed to a seven-year, $21 million deal.

Holmstrom is starting to show real confidence with his shot (he still needs more accuracy) in addition to his pesky forechecking and strong defense and had a crucial power-play goal against the Penguins.

“Outstanding,” coach Patrick Roy said. “The last three, four games, he’s been like, wow.”

George, just 20, made his NHL debut with a solid 15:41 against the Penguins and was trusted with a 40-second shift in overtime.

Hutton, 29, also recalled from Bridgeport, was trusted for a successful five-on-three penalty kill in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

“They know I play those minutes down in Bridgeport,” Hutton said. “It shows they have a little bit of trust in me and hopefully that can help me build some confidence and contribute.”

Roy does need to see one thing, though, from the three new defensemen in the lineup, including Dennis Cholowski.

“It’s tough for them to gap up,” Roy said. “We’re going to give more shots. These guys now need to get more comfortable at that level.”

Roy is just looking for them to figure it out. To scrape by.

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.