UNIONDALE, NY— Less than 10 points separates the fifth
place team from the Eastern Conference’s 13th spot.
The Islanders won’t know until season’s end if the Atlanta Thrashers’ comeback on Saturday night will be the difference in qualifying for the playoffs.
But the Isles still earned the victory despite blowing two separate three-goal leads in a 6-5 shootout win over Atlanta at home.
Ilya Kovalchuk temporarily
silenced most of the Nassau Coliseum crowd with a blistering point shot for a power play goal as Atlanta roared back from a 5-2 deficit to tie it almost midway through the final period.
Instead of folding, Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen scored critical shootout goals to send the Islanders into a three-game Western Conference road trip with momentum.
The Islanders entered Sunday tied with Atlanta for the ninth spot at 42 points with the Thrashers playing two fewer games. Despite giving back a point, Josh Bailey said the win was good for the club’s confidence since the Islanders started its game as the NHL’s lowest scoring offense.
“We needed a game like this,” Bailey said. “We haven’t been giving too much support for our goalies lately, so it’s definitely a positive.”
Five regulation goals tied a season-high for the Islanders. The team first accomplished the feat Halloween night against Buffalo.
Even after the scoring barrage, the Islanders ranked second-to-last in goals scored, trailing only Carolina. The Hurricanes claim the league’s worst record and fewest points and has 102 goals compared to 107 for the Isles.
Scott Gordon’s club can make it
back to .500, entering Wednesday’s game in Colorado. At 17-18-8, the Islanders will face an Avalanche squad currently occupying first-place in the Northwest Division before venturing to Dallas and Phoenix.
After that stretch of three games in four days, the Islanders head back to the Coliseum to face the defending Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings Jan. 12. Gordon said his team needs to do a better job of protecting leads should the Islanders surge ahead against the challenging non-conference opponents.
“It’s something you have to learn from,” Gordon said. “You can’t think for a moment that you can take a shortcut or take the easy way out. It’s a lesson learned.”
