The word “desperate” might not be enough to describe the way the Islanders are feeling as their roller-coaster season winds to a close. After plunging in the standings following an impressive midseason push, they absolutely needed a win against the last-place Devils Friday night.
Thanks to Jaroslav Halak, coupled with general futility from the New Jersey side, they got the win. But when John Tavares crumpled to the ice late in the third period with a hamstring injury, it almost felt like a loss.
“It’s a big blow every time you see your best player go down,” coach Doug Weight said.
Tavares’ injury was a damper on what was otherwise a solid bounce-back effort after the Islanders were thumped in Philadelphia on Thursday. They showed energy out of the gate, nearly stealing a short-handed goal in the first after Keith Kinkaid lost a puck behind his body. Devils forward Kyle Palmieri poked it away as it drifted within centimeters of the red line, but Anders Lee got the Isles on the board two minutes later on a dish from Johnny Boychuk.
Anthony Beauvillier made it 2-0 on a pass from rookie Josh Ho-Sang, which turned out to be all the Isles needed. Halak looked strong in goal, stopping all but one of the 27 shots he faced, including some spectacular saves as the Devils offense heated up late in the game.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Halak said. “It was a slow game for me at first, and it’s tough when you don’t face a lot of shots, but I stayed focused.”
Despite Halak’s strong performance, and the fact Thomas Greiss allowed three goals within 10 minutes on Thursday, Weight wasn’t willing to name a starter going forward.
“I’m committed to all three of my goalies,” he said. “But I loved his game today. They had some really good quality shots, but he looked sharp, he looked fresh.”
With the win, the Islanders moved into a tie for fourth in the wild-card standings with Carolina, and currently sit four points out of a playoff berth. Boston, Tampa Bay and Carolina — all pacing the Islanders for the No. 8 seed — were idle Friday, making the two points look a bit more important in the standings.
But the Islanders’ playoff hopes remain slim — and likely got even slimmer with the potential loss of their best player.
“[Tavares] is our captain, and our leader,” Lee said. “It’s going to be a huge loss. I hope to hear that he just tweaked something, and he’ll be fine.”
It was a demoralizing end to an ugly game. The Devils repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with unnecessary penalties; there were two 5-on-3s in the first period alone, started by Joseph Blandisi lazily floating a puck into the stands and an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Taylor Hall.
The Devils went two men down for a staggering third time with less than a minute left in the game, after Ben Lovejoy initiated a needless fight with Lee.
The Islanders, however, failed to capitalize on any of those chances. It’s becoming a trend; they’ve scored two power play goals on 27 chances since March 11, both goals coming in a win over the Rangers.
The Islanders need a lot of help if they want to sneak into the playoffs, both in the standings and from their reserves. With the loss of Tavares, the Islanders are down to 11 forwards, and every player on the roster knows the uphill battle they face.
“All you can do is worry about yourselves, but we know where we stand,” Lee said. “We all check the standings.”