Islanders Taking Opportunity to Rest and Reset

Reprieve. Rest. Refine. Then, right back at it.
The last month has been a grind to say the least for the New York Islanders. Monday night's 2-1 OT win at Philadelphia marked the Islanders' 14th game in the last 24 days - which featured three sets of back-to-backs - and was supposed to be the first stop of a five-game road trip. The team was originally scheduled to complete their fourth back-to-back set in a month with a trip to Boston on Tuesday, but the game was postponed on March 19 in accordance with the NHL's COVID Protocol.

So, for the first time since Feb. 23-24, the Islanders have consecutive days without a game as their next scheduled game isn't until Thursday at Boston. Coming off a 2-1 overtime win over the Flyers, the group is appreciative for the opportunity to reset in the coming days before they resume the frenzy of this year's abbreviated 56-game slate.

"We were sitting here looking with a couple of big games against Philadelphia, coming here and then were supposed to be going to Boston right now," Head Coach Barry Trotz said following the Islanders' win on Monday night. "That's a little bit of a break for us physically and mentally. The guys will have [Tuesday] off and then [Wednesday] we'll get back on the ice."
The last 24 days have featured six different opponents, and the Islanders are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games, so they've handled this busy stretch well. And while this season's division-only competition has bolstered the familiarity among teams, it's still an immense challenge to compete and prepare to face heated rivals night-in and night-out with little to no time between matchups.
"It's huge, whenever you get the opportunity to rest and recover," Anthony Beauvillier, who scored Monday's OT winner, said. "At this point, everyone is kind of banged up and a little tired physically and mentally. We're going to try and make the best out of it and get back stronger."
While the Islanders are accustomed to the tedious end-of-season push that occurs in a traditional 82-game season, this unique season has presented its own novel challenges, with postponements and schedule changes popping up intermittently. The Islanders have just maintained their focus throughout.

"It is a grind, there are a lot of games to be played," Matt Martin said. "But it isn't a whole lot different than a usual February-March schedule. Our schedules are usually light early on in the season and then later on, we'll play 17 games or 18 games in a month. This season has been a little different because we haven't had stretches where we've had four days off. They've been every other [night] off pretty consistently. But we're prepared for it, we're ready for it. We've just got to focus on every game that day."
Following Tuesday's reprieve of a day off and Wednesday's retooling at practice, the Islanders are expecting to be right back on the grind on Thursday night at T.D. Garden against the Bruins.