Islanders, desperate for wins and points, return to play Sharks

The season resumed for the Islanders on Thursday night after two games were postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak. And if there’s a playoff push coming from the struggling team, it must start immediately.

The last-place Islanders, beset by injuries as well as eight players testing positive for COVID-19, brought an eight-game losing streak – all in regulation – into their game against the Sharks at UBS Arena.

The lineup, a makeshift, hybrid NHL/AHL roster the previous five games, welcomed back captain Anders Lee, Josh Bailey and defensemen Adam Pelech and Andy Greene after they were cleared from COVID-19 protocol.

"We’ve dug ourselves a hole," coach Barry Trotz said before the game. "Our playoffs are sort of now. We’re not going to see the playoffs unless we’re digging in right now."

The Islanders, who have played at least three fewer games than every other team in the Metropolitan Division, entered Thursday 19 points behind the Rangers for the third and final guaranteed postseason spot in the division and 13 points out of the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot. Games against the Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden and Tuesday’s road match against the Flyers were postponed.

The Islanders are coming off back-to-back berths in the NHL semifinals and have qualified for the playoffs in each of Trotz’s first three seasons.

But, historically, 77% of teams in a playoff position at Thanksgiving wind up qualifying.

"It’s starts tonight, let’s have an Islander game," Greene said. "Let’s play the way we know we should and go from there. Play the right way. Even if something does go wrong during the game, it’s just about playing to our identity. Not trying to do too much all at once. You can’t collect six points tonight."

Having Pelech and Greene return should bolster the defensive efforts, though the Islanders have been uncharacteristically shaky in defending for most of the season.

They were outscored by an aggregate 13-3 in their first four games in their new, $1.1 billion home and their goal differential of minus-20 is the fifth worst in the NHL. The Islanders allowed four or more goals in eight of their first 17 games.

"I just think it’s getting back to what’s made us successful over the past couple of years," Pelech said. "That’s defending hard. Defending as a five-man unit and the goalie and get the puck out of our zone and try to play offense as much as we can. It’s what we need to get back to if we plan on being successful again."

Both Pelech and Greene said they were mostly asymptomatic despite testing positive, though

Pelech said having to quarantine was "definitely tough. Frustrating at times."

Bailey, the first Islander to test positive on Nov. 16 and who remained quarantined in Florida for more than a week, said he, too, experienced minimal symptoms.

Lee reported "a couple of days where it wasn’t too much fun."

All members of the Islanders’ organization are vaccinated.

The Islanders’ COVID-19 outbreak – only Casey Cizikas and Zdeno Chara remained in protocol on Thursday – came after a season-opening, 13-game road trip. Plus, defenseman Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson remain sidelined with lower-body injuries.

"I think everyone’s excited just to have everyone back as a unit," Lee said. "Especially with how things have gone this year. Regardless if it’s me, if it’s Nellie coming back here soon, if it’s Bails coming back from Florida for 10 days, it’s all of us coming back together. That’s really what’s exciting about this. It’s us getting back to who we are, playing like who we are."

The Islanders’ playoff chances are depending on that.

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.