The New York Islanders had to crisscross the country to get it, but after Saturday night’s 2-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club, they have their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) broke a 1-1 tie with 1:25 to play in the third period, the second of two third period goals to power the Islanders' comeback win. With the victory, the Islanders put together their first three-game road sweep since October of 2018, and feel their game rounding into form.
“Now we feel it,” Barzal said. “It just takes a game or two and I think we felt it after the big Boston win. Then we walked into Vegas and played the same way. We did more of the same tonight. So that was a tough road trip. Those are three good teams, three tough buildings since and you couldn't ask for a better road trip.”
It wasn’t a pretty win. They found themselves down 1-0 off a Nick Schmaltz second period deflection and slugging it out with Utah team in a similar scrappy position – and a boisterous Delta Center – at the halfway point of the season. They stuck with it, with Brock Nelson burying a slick cross-ice, backdoor feed from Anders Lee to get on the board at 3:36 of the third period.
In the first half of the season, third periods and penalty kills proved to be their downfall, but on Saturday night, they excelled at both. The Islanders outshot Utah 13-7 in the final frame – 32-22 in the game overall – and killed off a late penalty to Anders Lee with under seven minutes to play.
Even the winner came on a scrappy play, with the top line throwing pucks on net and creating havoc, allowing Barzal to flip a loose puck over a sprawled Connor Ingram. There’s still a long road ahead for the Islanders in a tight Eastern Conference, but on a night where Boston, Columbus, Ottawa, Philadelphia and the Rangers all won, keeping pace went a long way.
“It’s crunch time really kind of make or break for the team, and it looks like we’re trending upwards,” Barzal said. “So we're in a tight race every night's a big game. Tonight was a huge one.”