Islanders Forward credits team with pulling together after everyone dismissed them
The New York Islanders knew they had to win in game 82 on the schedule and that's exactly what they did, picking up a 4-2 victory on Wednesday night.
After the Penguins dropped the ball against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, New York was able to get the job done in front of their fans at home.
The Islanders have been without star center Mathew Barzal since February 18th when he was injured in a game against the Boston Bruins. During that stretch the team played .680 hockey. Many fans wrote the team off after Barzal's injury but they were able to reach their goal on the back of excellent goaltending from Ilya Sorokin.
Veteran forward Zach Parise mentioned how the team stepped up in Barzal's absence.
"I almost feel as if we potentially got written of a little bit when Barzal went down. And we rallied and we put together a pretty good record from then on to put ourselves in this spot. I'm sure you could point to a lot of different times in the season that got us here. But here we are."
The Islanders will face either the Bruins or Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs, depending on the outcomes of those team's games Thursday.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Islanders can beat either the Bruins or Hurricanes? | ||
| Yes, a chance against Carolina. | 11 | 25 % |
| Yes, a chance against Boston. | 3 | 6.8 % |
| No chance, they're getting swept | 5 | 11.4 % |
| They'll win some games but ultimately lose | 25 | 56.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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