The Islanders’ winning express train reached a speed bump when they played out on the West Coast before Thanksgiving. They lost three straight to the San Jose Sharks (overtime loss), Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, and the Ducks ended the Islanders’ 17-game point streak during the trip.
The train went back home, and the Islanders promptly went on to take a 2-0 shutout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Barclays Center. They went back on the road for two games on Monday and Tuesday, and they managed to split two games with a 4-1 victory over the rebuilding Red Wings and a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Islanders returned home Thursday night to play the third-year Vegas Golden Knights, who wanted a sweep of the tri-state area teams this week on their way back home.
The Knights found out the Islanders were not the hapless Rangers or the underachieving Devils. They faced a team that has dreams of hoisting the Stanley Cup just like them this season. They also faced a team that rarely ever loses at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum. In the end, they left Long Island as 3-2 losers in overtime.
Not only are the Islanders 11-0-1 in their last 12 home games, but they won seven in a row at the Coliseum.
The Islanders lost their legs on the West Coast trip, but they regained it by returning home, and now they found their way again by winning three of four overall. All it took was a return home to get themselves going as they anticipated.
This proves in an 82-game season that teams should take an even-keel approach. The Islanders reflect the personality of Barry Trotz by not being too high and too low. They just go out and play and move on to the next game. They knew they weren’t as bad as they showed out West, and they knew they weren’t as great as they played at home so far. In their minds, they have work to do before the playoffs start. They have to learn how to win games on the road if they are going to win the Stanley Cup this year.
They mastered the art of winning at home. It helps they play half their home games at an arena where fans are close to the action at the Coliseum. This energizes the players, and fans feed off from it.
The Pittsburgh Penguins can attest to that in the playoffs last season. The Islanders took the will out of them in their first two home games of the first round of the playoffs at the Coliseum, and the Penguins never recovered to the point the Islanders swept them.
We make too much of home-ice advantage, but in the Islanders’ case, it rings true. They play like world beaters at the Coliseum. They dominate faceoffs and puck possession. They know how to stifle the visitors. They find ways to get those lucky bounces that is so needed to score. They score often at home.
Role players feed off from the home crowd, especially at the Coliseum, so it isn’t a coincidence Devon Toews, Cal Clutterbuck, Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas flourish at home while they struggle on the road. The Islanders’ fourth line can be considered their best line because they do so much scoring at home.
Here’s an example of how home-ice at the Coliseum matters for the Islanders: Fans picked up on Jonathan Marchessault tripping on Mat Barzal that had them screaming and refs noticing in overtime. That resulted to an Islanders power play, and on a 4-on-3 power play advantage, Ryan Pulock went at Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban, and then he shot the puck at him and scored the game-winner.
Somehow, this would not be picked up if it was at Barclays Center since fans can’t see the puck or the ice with those obstructed seats. The acoustics of that arena is hard.
Credit the Carolina Hurricanes for sweeping the Islanders in the second round of the playoffs last season, but if the first two home games took place at the Coliseum instead of the Barclays Center, it could have been a different story. Maybe the Hurricanes still win the series because they play like a faster team, but it would not end in four games.
Now the Islanders have played well at Barclays Center this season, but playoff hockey will be different, and it remains to be seen if they can win there. The fans fear playing at Brooklyn could be a problem for the Islanders this spring when the playoffs from second round, Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final takes place at Barclays rather than the Coliseum, which can only host a first-round playoff series.
The players haven’t talked about the difference of playing in two different arenas at home. Of course, they have been told by ownership, management and Trotz to stop using Barclays Center as an alibi to why they struggle. We will never know what they really think.
The Islanders preferred to play at the Coliseum because they can practice in Long Island and play there rather than commute to Long Island from Brooklyn on game night. Players tend to be a creature of habit, so they prefer to be comfortable and be ready to go rather than deal with the inconvenience. It’s only human nature.
Thankfully, the construction at the Islanders’ new arena at Belmont is coming along so well. This Islanders team can’t keep playing home games at two different arenas.. It serves no one well.
The new arena should be ready to go in two years, so the Islanders have to deal with it this year and next season.
It was imperative that the Islanders got it going with the new arena as soon as possible, and that wait ended in September when the Islanders had that groundbreaking event.
From watching the Islanders dominating at the Coliseum, it can only pique fans’ curiosity on how the Islanders will fare at the new arena in couple of years.
Same can be said from the Islanders players’ perspective.
