NHL

by Ethan Sears

The Islanders’ playoff push is real.

Facing one of the best teams in hockey with a chance to win three in a row for the first time since December, the Islanders not only picked up two points, but an emphatic and excellent 5-1 win over the Bruins on the back of a first-ever natural hat trick from Kyle Palmieri.

The Isles’ transformation under Patrick Roy took some time, but on Saturday – if it proves sustainable – they looked like a formidable product.

All four forwards were checked, played under hash marks and spent time in the offensive zone.

The Islanders – a team that is constantly criticized for their lack of speed – played just as fast as the Bruins.

They destroyed the network. The penalty for murder was not dropped.

On an overall basis, it qualified as a season-best 60 minutes by a country mile as the Islanders continued to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division standings with Philadelphia, which beat Ottawa.

Palmieri’s hat-trick, the fastest to start a game in Islanders history and their first of the season, began 3:32 into the game when he beat Linus Ullmark off a rush.

Just less than two minutes later, after a penalty kick by James van Riemsdyk, Palmieri scored on a rebound from Bo Horvat to make it 2-0.

Then at 12:19, he was in the back of the net again blocking Ryan Bullock’s initial shot.

It was the first hat-trick by an Islander in the first period since Jason Blake on February 27, 2007 against Philadelphia, and Palmieri’s first since October 30, 2019, when he was with the Devils.

And Palmieri wasn’t done yet, scoring his fourth point of the night just 46 seconds into the second period when Anders Lee finished off a one-man drive by scoring on a rebound.

If there were lingering nightmares of the collapses that have been common for the Islanders at some points this season, and if no one in UBS Arena felt safe from there, they certainly did when Brock Nelson scored to make it 5-0 later in the second.

This was a night where the bad moments could be quickly reviewed.

Palmieri went down with 13:26 left to take the lead in the second period on a shot from Parker Wotherspoon, but he returned to the game at the end of the period.

Mark McLaughlin shut out Ilya Sorokin in the second period, but the Bruins went into the break with just 14 shots on net — a reflection of how the Isles closed down almost every chance and won almost every puck battle.

The perfect game may be out of reach. But that wasn’t far off.

The Islanders still have a long way to go before they are on the right side of the playoffs.

But if there was any slight thought about being sold at the trade deadline in general manager Lou Lamoriello’s mind, it’s certainly gone by now.

The Islanders can’t take their foot off the gas now. But their confidence, which Roy said last week he wants to improve, appears to be growing.

At the right time, with the right lines, and with the right coach, it looks like the Islanders are finally in a good position.

Not a moment too soon.