Capellini: Red-Hot Islanders Are Defying Odds, Logic And Off-Ice Insanity

By Jeff Capellini
WFAN.com

The Islanders are not a team to be trifled with right now.

I can't believe I just typed that.

Given their terrible start to the season and the months of sleepwalking that followed, it is simply amazing that they sit just three points out of a playoff spot with 34 games remaining.

Astonishing, really.

Over the last three weeks, the Islanders (22-17-9) have been a different team in just about every way as far as their execution on the ice goes. No, general manager Garth Snow still hasn't made an impact trade, and, yes, he still needs to, but for the time being that talk has been somewhat muted due to the fact that this team has outplayed the vast majority of its recent opponents, and by quite a lot.

Now, you could say the reason the Isles went 5-0-1 on their just-completed homestand was because interim head coach Doug Weight's name is not Jack Capuano, but that would be too simple an explanation. The fact is the Isles were starting to get their act together before Capuano was fired Jan. 17.

They just needed a different voice to accelerate the process.

Weight carries a swagger about him that isn't the least bit offensive, but it gets your attention nonetheless. He said the second he got the gig that the Isles would "play the right way and win games," and that's exactly what they have done. Over their last six, they have displayed the type of confidence and intensity that was largely missing during the first half of the season.

John Tavares has performed like a superstar, career backup goaltender Thomas Greiss has been so good he got himself a three-year contract extension for starter money, and the team in general has rebounded in a way that nobody, except perhaps the players themselves, thought possible.

From my perspective, the single most important aspect of the Isles' turnaround has been the sizable improvement in team defense. I'm not just taking about Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk here. Every player, from Tavares to the seventh defenseman, has reinvested in the idea of bringing it on the defensive end, as well as clogging up the neutral zone to prevent easy entrance over the blue line.

Please don't misunderstand, it's not like the Islanders have suddenly morphed into the 1990s Devils and trapped their way up the standings. But, they have become a rather annoying nuisance for opposing offenses. Whether it's winning battles along the boards, tying up men in front or delivering that last-second poke check to prevent a high-danger area scoring chance, the Isles have been doing what needs to be done.

Think about the teams the Islanders have beaten of late. It's a veritable who's who of the NHL's upper echelon. In successive games to end the homestand, they knocked off Metropolitan Division runner-up Columbus, Atlantic Division-leading Montreal and NHL-leading Washington, allowing  just five goals in the process.

"Ever since probably the New Year, we've felt pretty good about ourselves," said forward Ryan Strome, who scored a big goal during Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Capitals. "We're starting to be more confident. It feels good when you're winning games. The third period, we really had no nerves. I think that's just the strength of our team, just pretty poised and right now things are going good for us. You've got to feel good, and we're going to get results."

Ready for another insane stat? The Isles gave up just 22 goals in regulation in 12 January games, and that's with the seven Carolina dropped on them Jan. 14.

Greiss has been nothing short of a revelation in net, posting a 1.99 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in his 12 starts since Jaroslav Halak was put on waivers Dec. 30. The 30-year-old German's .928 save percentage overall is currently fifth in the league, just behind the Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky (.929) and the Capitals' Braden Holtby (.930), who, by the way, have each won the Vezina Trophy once since 2013.

What's even more impressive is the Islanders have done their about-face despite the type of distractions that would normally derail most teams. They've dealt with the criticism that accompanied their brutal start, a midseason coaching change, constant talk about how Tavares is supposedly going to bolt once he's eligible for free agency and, recently, a report that stated Barclays Center doesn't want them anymore.

That's a lot of stuff to try to block out on a daily basis and still attempt to win games.

Yet, they are doing it, in defiance of a whole boatload of people that pretty much wrote them off. I'll admit, I was one of them.

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All that said, there is still one thing we don't know about this team, and that is whether or not it can win away from Brooklyn. The Islanders have played just 19 road games, by far the fewest in the Eastern Conference, and have just six wins. They have to find a way to bottle their recent stellar play on home ice and take it with them wherever they go from here on out.

The Isles face a brutal nine-game trip from Feb. 21 to March 11 that will almost certainly determine their playoff fate. That excursion includes games at Montreal, Columbus and Chicago before several stops in western Canada.

Another thing the Isles need to be wary of is the fact that the playoff chase in the East, at least among the wild-card hopefuls, really comes down to nine teams duking it out for one spot. The Rangers, who currently own the first wild card, lead Philadelphia by seven points. The remaining eight clubs headed into Thursday's action separated by seven points.

The good news is the Islanders have games in hand on everyone in that group, save for Toronto, which has played the same number of games as New York. If the Isles can successfully navigate the minefield of road games to come, they might find themselves the hunted rather than the hunter come April.

But all that remains to be seen. Their first order of business comes Friday in Detroit, followed by a visit from Carolina on Saturday. While it's my job to look at the big picture, Weight and the Isles are likely not looking past the next date on the calendar.

That's saying something, when you consider that most folks were thinking ahead to October not too long ago.

Read more columns by Jeff Capellini and follow him on Twitter at @JCapWFAN