Well, guess you have to start somewhere.
The Islanders stoked the dying embers of their playoff chances on Thursday night at the Coliseum as they began their post-Olympic NHL schedule with an improbable and whirlwind 5-4 overtime win over the Maple Leafs.
With 1:55 gone by in the extra period, Lubomir Visnovsky converted on a bad James van Riemsdyk turnover, the final mistake the Leafs would be allowed to make in a game in which they made a bevy of them, giving the sparse and mixed crowd that ventured out to Uniondale an apt ending to a strange and wild contest.
“It’s the task at hand, and you can’t worry about the scoreboard or what other teams are doing,” said coach Jack Capuano, whose team is now 23-30-8 and yet remains 12 points out of the final playoff spot with six teams to leapfrog and 21 games remaining. “Obviously, yeah, we’re thinking we need to make a push just like we did last year.”
Last year would be that lockout-shortened campaign when the Isles made a second-half run to earn the franchise’s first postseason berth since 2007. This year, they’re now going to try and attempt that with a roster that is even younger, horribly depleted by injury and about to be dismantled by trades.
With John Tavares, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin out due to injury — and Thomas Vanek and Andrew MacDonald just days away from almost assuredly being moved to the highest bidder — the Islanders got an energetic push from rookie replacements Ryan Strome, Anders Lee and Mike Halmo, all three called up from AHL Bridgeport on Tuesday and all three making an impact.
Lee scored two goals in his first NHL game this season, the first a power-play tally that tied it 3-3 midway through the third, and the second a goal-mouth jam shot that tied it 4-4 with just 2:40 remaining to send it to overtime.
“It’s almost being a little bit naïve to the situation,” said Lee, the Notre Dame product now with three goals and four points in three career NHL games. “Coming in here, we’re just trying to help this team right now. The past is the past, and we’re going forward.”
The Isles got out to a 2-1 lead in the first by way of Michael Grabner’s two shorthanded goals separated by just 48 seconds on the same penalty kill, the first time that’s happened for this franchise since Ziggy Palffy did it on April 17, 1999, his last game as an Islander, according to MSG.
Although the Leafs (32-22-7) handed Grabner his goals by way of terrible turnovers, they managed to take leads of 3-2 and 4-3 before succumbing in the extra frame.
“It seemed liked everyone was bringing it,” Lee said, “and it worked out for us in the end.”