Islanders hoping for a productive two-game homestand before hitting the road again
Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat of the Islanders looks on during the third period against the Penguins at UBS Arena on Dec. 27, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
There’s evidence of a short stay at Anders Lee’s place.
“My bag probably won’t be unpacked all week,” the Islanders captain said.
But the Islanders were hoping the brief respite between four-game road trips would be a productive one. Their tenuous position in the standings necessitated a strong homestand.
The Islanders opened a two-game stretch at UBS Arena against the Pacific Division-leading Canucks on Tuesday night after concluding a 1-2-1 road trip with a 5-2 loss to defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas on Saturday night.
They also host the Maple Leafs on Thursday night before starting their next road trip in Nashville on Saturday. It’s part of a stretch that sees the Islanders play eight of 13 on the road in January before the NHL’s All-Star break.
“Tough schedule, man,” right wing Julien Gauthier said. “We all know it. It’s not easy. We’ve been away for a long time and we’re going back out again. We’ve just got to make sure we’re focused. We’ve got to get as many points as we can before the All-Star break. That’s our goal right now.”
The Islanders entered Tuesday’s match in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 46 points. The Flyers, holding the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, also had 46 points while the Devils, Capitals, Penguins and Red Wings all had 44 points and the Lightning had 43.
In addition to both the Canucks and the Maple Leafs, two of the first three teams the Islanders face on their upcoming road trip – the Predators and the Central Division-leading Jets – also currently hold playoff spots.
So, yes, every point counts. Two regulation losses on the last road trip after the Islanders had collected points in 18 of their previous 21 games (12-3-6) slowed their momentum, which they want to regain on the homestand.
“We’re in and out,” Lee said. “It’s nice to stop at home. Nice to get back in front of our fans. Have all the things that come with playing at home. Sleeping at home, the whole deal. But it’s a big week. After the road trip, let’s get back to putting some points on the board and continuing to move up. It’s tight like it’s always been. It’s going to be a great final 40 [games].”
The Islanders reach the midpoint of their 82-game season on Thursday.
But while this certainly is a challenging portion of the Islanders’ schedule, coach Lane Lambert believes it’s also just business as usual.
“I think, maybe, just with the couple of trips and the amount of road games,” Lambert said when asked whether he had this stretch pegged as one of the season’s most difficult. “You look at every part of the schedule, the six-game homestand we had, too, was challenging. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time, like we always do.”
Lambert was referring to the Islanders’ season-high six-game homestand from Dec. 5-15 in which they went 4-0-2. Coaches often worry that long homestands can make a team stale just as much as they worry about long road trips tiring their team.
“It is what it is,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “Every team at some point throughout the year, you get yourself in the gauntlet schedule-wise. I think the guys can just get a little energy, feel energized coming back home. It can be good. We’ve got two great teams coming in this week, two different challenges.”
The Islanders could also stand to play better at UBS Arena.
They entered Tuesday with a 10-4-6 home record meaning they’ve gotten points in 16 of 20 matches at UBS Arena but lost as much as they’d won.
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.
