Andrew Gross: Islanders' resiliency will be tested against Penguins coming off back-to-back games
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy stands behind the bench during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Jan. 31, 2026 at UBS Arena. Credit: AP/John Munson
Resiliency is a must for an NHL playoff team and the Islanders are being tested in that facet.
They entered Tuesday night’s must-have match against the Penguins at UBS Arena off back-to-back regulation losses in which each game turned in the second period.
It allowed the Capitals to move within two points of the third-place Islanders in the Metropolitan Division while the Islanders remained two points shy of the second-place Penguins, who have played two fewer games.
All season, the Islanders have touted their resiliency in rebounding from adversity.
No time like the present. That cannot just be talk right now with their playoff chances hanging in the balance and the three-week Olympic break starting after Thursday night’s road match against the Devils.
The Islanders cannot let a bad few minutes – or seconds – derail their overall game as was the case in Monday night’s 4-1 loss in Washington or Saturday night’s 4-3 defeat to the visiting Predators. In the latter, the Islanders fumbled a two-goal lead and then a one-goal edge while forcing goalie Ilya Sorokin to make 21 saves in the second period – a career high for 20 minutes – before ceding the winner with 1:14 remaining in regulation.
Coach Patrick Roy called Saturday’s second period, “probably our worst period of the year.”
Then, the Capitals scored twice within 31 seconds in the second period to take a 2-1 lead from which the Islanders could not recover.
“For some reason, it affected us,” Roy said after Monday’s game. “Is it because we had a few good chances and we didn’t score on those, maybe that affected us as well.”
The follow-up question to Roy was how the Islanders could better recover from those hiccups.
But he interpreted it as asking for his analysis of the Islanders’ resiliency, which he believes is very good.
“That’s who we are, isn’t it?” Roy said. “We stay in the present moment and we focus on tomorrow.”
Defenseman Scott Mayfield, too, did not want to make too much of the loss to the Capitals when asked how the Islanders keep from getting too frustrated over these types of defeats.
“Every game is important,” Mayfield said. “You’re trying to rack up points the entire season. That’s how I see it. I see every game as a new game and it’s two points available and we want them.”
Likewise, captain Anders Lee did not see a correlation between Saturday’s second period and Monday’s.
“We didn’t give them much tonight,” Lee said after the loss to the Capitals. “They got two in a minute or whatever that was and one was Ritty (goalie David Rittich) didn’t even have a chance to pick it up and Beau (ex-Islander Anthony Beauvillier) stuffs one from behind the net. I don’t think that’s a team epidemic type of thing.”
To be fair, the Islanders aren’t just whistling tunes about being a resilient team. Entering Tuesday, they had rallied from behind in 13 of their 30 victories after having 16 comeback victories the previous season.
But this is about the here and now for the Islanders. It’s felt like they’ve been in a playoff push since the Christmas break and the real crunch will begin as soon as the Islanders resume their season after the Olympic break on Feb. 26 in Montreal. They will have 24 games to play until April 14.
So how do they rediscover their resiliency mojo?
A lot of it is simple stuff. For instance, their top players need to step up more in the offensive zone. And that’s not just scoring goals, though more would certainly help. It’s about having a straight-line mentality to the crease and having the willingness to absorb punishment to get there.
It’s about playing a simple, hard game that wears down the opponent. Too often of late, the Islanders have resorted to cute play, looking for the extra pass.
It’s making sure the puck enters the offensive zone on the power play and stays up ice and moves enough so shooting lanes are created. And the Islanders must shoot.
It’s making sure one mistake, like a turnover, doesn’t turn into two or three.
These are musts right now. The Islanders can’t just say they are resilient.
They must be resilient.
Notes & quotes: Max Shabanov and defenseman Adam Boqvist remained healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
