It seems like we’ve seen this before: the New York Islanders fall behind early in the year, before a resurgence in the second half of the season helps them climb back in the playoff hunt.
In 2023, the Islanders looked poised to miss the playoffs for a second straight season, before gambling with the Bo Horvat trade and managing to turn things around. Then last season, the team got off to another slow start and fired Lane Lambert, but ended up sliding into the playoffs after going 8-0-1 to end the year.
The Islanders have struggled once again this season, falling as low as 15th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage not too long ago. But currently riding a six-game win streak, once again, the Islanders have put themselves back in a position to work their way into the playoffs.
The team has managed to find a bit of offense, scoring 21 goals over their last six games. Bo Horvat has been excellent, with five goals and eight points over his last seven games. Simon Holmstrom also has four goals over his last five games, while Brock Nelson has been scoring at a point-per-game pace across the last 10 games. Mathew Barzal has gone pointless across the last three contests, but the forward getting hot across January creates hope that he can provide consistent offense over the remainder of the year.
Where the Islanders have really seen their success stem from though is managing to keep pucks out of their own net. Across the win streak, the Islanders have allowed just seven goals over six games. Ilya Sorokin has been excellent, allowing just four goals on 112 shots, and with both Semyon Varlamov and now Marcus Hogberg unavailable, he'll continue to be counted on.
This also comes despite some injuries on the blue line, to both Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock. As a result, over the past week, the Islanders have signed Tony DeAngelo out of the KHL, then acquired Scott Perunovich from the St. Louis Blues, and most recently claimed Adam Boqvist off waivers from the Florida Panthers. All of the additions can add offense (even if defensive impacts may vary), and the Islanders haven’t been the least bit afraid to use DeAngelo in particular over his first three games, playing him an average of 25 minutes.
All of the additions made sense, given the injuries. Of course, the Islanders could end up with a logjam once the likes of Dobson and Pulock return, but it’s a good opportunity to see if any of the defensemen can be a fit past this season.
So we’ll see if the recent success is sustainable for the Islanders. The Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets have pulled ahead of a lot of the other teams in the playoff race, but with a lot of time to go and the Islanders arguably hotter than any other team in the NHL right now, it looks like New York at least has some life.
The schedule won’t be easy though: prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break, the Islanders will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, and Minnesota Wild, in a set of five games which features two separate back-to-backs on the road. It’s an extremely important stretch of games, and one that will establish a direction for the remainder of the season.
Upon returning from the 4 Nations break, only about two weeks will remain until the NHL’s trade deadline. As a result, this stretch of games prior to the 4 Nations break could play a significant role in influencing whether the team holds their top pieces, or becomes a seller.
The biggest trade chips would obviously be Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, who are both on expiring contracts. I’ve posted a list of the NHL’s Top 50 Free Agents of 2025 at HockeyComparables.com, and Nelson and Palmieri account for two of the five players from the Islanders who are listed:
- HockeyComparables.com: Top-50 Free Agents of 2025
So we’ll see what the team can do. It’s been a frustrating season at times, but the Islanders have some life, and have put themselves into a position where they could squeak into the postseason with a strong end to the year.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»