The Islanders handled the dog-days portion of their schedule with aplomb, rising to the top of the Metropolitan Division through December and January.
“It certainly can be tough,” left wing Matt Martin said. “But everyone is going through the same things. I just try to take it game by game. I don’t really think about the amount of games. There’s always that part of the season where it is a mental grind. I think every player will say they go through that at some point. It seems to be that December, January time frame.”
The same game-by-game focus must be applied to their playoff push over the season’s final nine weeks.