Islanders remain confident they can make playoff push

The math is not in their favor. Nor is the calendar.

But until further notice, the Islanders are unequivocal in their belief that they reside among the NHL’s upper echelon.

"We know that this organization is championship-level and we’re not going to settle for anything less," Mathew Barzal said after the Islanders’ 4-1 win over the Bruins on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

The Islanders (18-20-6, 42 points) entered Friday in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division, 11th place in the Eastern Conference and 25th overall. They are essentially the same group that reached the NHL’s final four two years in a row and entered this season as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

The muscle memory of those playoff runs is still fresh for a group that has equal amounts of pride and confidence.

"If the wheels fall off, obviously changes will have to be made, but that’s not something that’s been talked about in our locker room by anyone," Barzal said. "So we really think we can pull it together and string some wins together and make a push [for the Stanley Cup playoffs]."

A good starting point would be the five games remaining this month. Beginning Sunday at UBS Arena against league-worst Montreal, the Islanders’ opponents for the remainder of February have a combined record of 94-120-32.

So an opportunity does exist to make up ground.

In order to do that, however, complete start-to-finish efforts are required, which has been an issue all season. In Barry Trotz’s estimation, that includes Thursday night’s win over the Bruins.

"I would probably say the first period wasn’t our best," Trotz said. "We were just not as detailed. We were working but we weren’t as committed to the real high, high compete that you need to play against the Boston Bruins. [I] felt we were OK, but there’s another level there and I thought the second and third we played to that level, and we got the results that we needed.

"I thought we got a real good power-play goal. I thought we got some energy after that. Our five-on-five game was really strong. We had some firmness on our forecheck. We didn’t give them easy exits. We had good gaps. And we forced them to earn every inch on the ice. That’s a good Islander game for us."

Added Noah Dobson: "We got the results we want and that’s the way we need to play in those tight games. We got to find a way to get a big goal and then lock it down."