Islanders are quickly making themselves comfortable in some of the most uncomfortable situations.
For the third time in his previous sixth game – and for the second night in a row – Len Lambert’s men reversed a multi-goal third-period deficit to draw two points; The latest is coming Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in a 4-3 thriller over crosstown-rival Rangers.
“I think our people have a lot of heart and they believe,” Lambert said. “And they don’t leave.”
The Islanders went 3–1 down in the third period against the Blueshirts and went 31–18 on the night and 17–6 in the second. It is drawing on the second leg of an emotional back-to-back in which they went back to a 3-1 deficit in the third period on Monday night at the UBS Arena to defeat the Calgary Flames in overtime.
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“It was the same scenario as [Monday] night,” said Kyle Palmer, who scored the Islanders’ opening goal en route to a two-point night. “We had two going into the bottom third. It happened last night, so why not believe it to happen again?”
Adam Pelek scored 14 seconds in the third period to cut it before tying Brock Nelson on the power play at 13:46 of the frame. It set up Anders Lee’s winner with just 5:30 to go into regulation, slipping an Alex Romanov pass from home as he was alone in front of star Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin.
“This team’s got it,” Lee said of the Islanders’ comeback abilities. “We know what we are capable of when we play properly.”
Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves to keep the islanders in it, most notably on a penalty kill during a sloppy second period in which the islanders started the frame with a 1:56 time frame to kill a man before committing another three violations. .
“There is a lot of confidence in our group and in our room. We were confident,” Palmieri said. “We just got into some penalty trouble. This is a good power play team.
The Islanders improved to 9–5–0 in the season, leaving Rangers behind to take second place. Metropolitan Division Standings Thanks to a stretch in which they have won six of their last seven.
It began with a victory over Rangers at the UBS Arena on 26 October, but the team’s suddenly-obvious feature did not come into focus until three nights later when they scored four unanswered goals – three in the third period – to reverse a 3–0. To defeat the defending Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche 5-4.
The Islanders have beaten their opponents 25–11 in the third period of this season, re-establishing a brand of hockey from the Barry Trotz era, while pairing it with a more aggressive offensive that has achieved exceptional results. have done.
“Lack of two goals going into the third, there’s nothing to lose, but a great 20-minute opportunity,” Lee said with a smile. “We’ll have it sometimes. Not all the time.”
