The New York Islanders needed a regulation win against the wild card-positioned Boston Bruins to get us to act like they’re still kind of sort of in a playoff hunt, and they delivered with a strong effort and 4-1 win at home Thursday night.
Once again, the Islanders failed to get the first goal, but overall it was a stronger and sustained effort compared to the 1-3 road trip they just completed. And this time when they tied it at 1-1, they didn’t let up and didn’t let up another.
They got strong efforts from Mathew Barzal and Kieffer Bellows (among others), who stepped back into the lineup after Josh Bailey was scratched for a “day to day” injury.