A Three-Game Winning Streak Comes Just In Time For The New York Islanders — And UBS Arena

For those too young to have experienced the dynasty years themselves, the Islanders surging to the edge of the Stanley Cup Finals during their last LAST hurrah at Nassau Coliseum in the spring of 2021 offered a glimpse at what it was like in the 1980s — when the Islanders built their powerhouse while playing their home games at a raucous arena nicknamed “Fort Neverlose” — and provided the promise of a similar experience, except within the far more modern surroundings of UBS Arena.

But any hope the Islanders had of finding out what a deep playoff run might sound like in UBS Arena evaporated before they even played a game in Elmont.

A COVID outbreak enveloped the Islanders during a season-opening 13-game road trip and sent them into a hole from which they never had a chance of emerging. While the Islanders drew an average of 16,943 fans — just shy of the capacity of 17,255 — they didn’t play a single home game with playoff implications on their way to finishing 37-35-10 and 16 points back of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

But in home game no. 47 of the UBS era Saturday night, the Islanders finally got a glimpse at what a big game there might sound like.

The appropriate duo of Scott Mayfield and Anthony Beauvillier scored the tying and go-ahead goals in a 17-second span in the third period Saturday night for the Islanders, who scored five straight goals bridging the second and third to overcome an early three-goal deficit and edge the reigning Stanley Cup champion AvalancheAVAX
, 5-4.

The scene after Beauvillier’s goal wasn’t quite like the one he sparked in the Coliseum’s final moment as a big-time arena June 23, 2021, when a deafening guttural sound rained down — along with beer and at least one pair of shoes — on the ice after Beauvillier scored 68 seconds into overtime in Game 6 of the semifinals against the eventual champion Lightning.

But the loud roar within and slight shake of UBS Arena was the seismic moment the Islanders had been waiting to experience over the intervening 492 days.

“Thought it was great,” a grinning Beauvillier said afterward. “Building was buzzing. It was great.”

And it arrived just in time for the Islanders, who already seemed to be nearing a crossroads as last week began. The Islanders went 2-4-0 in their first six games while looking a lot like the team that was never in the race last season, when they finished 24th in the NHL in scoring and recorded just 12 wins against clubs that advanced to the playoffs.

Lou Lamoriello fired Hall of Fame-bound head coach Barry Trotz shortly after the season but ran it back with almost exactly the same roster despite the availability over the summer of potential difference-making offensive weapons such as Johnny Gaudreau and Nazem Kadri. Knocking off the woebegone Ducks and Sharks by a combined margin of 12-3 but falling to the Lightning, Panthers and Devils four times by a combined margin of 15-7 looked like more of the same for the Islanders.

But after outlasting the Rangers 3-0 last Wednesday despite being outshot 41-29, the Islanders never trailed in beating the Hurricanes Friday before storming back against the Avalanche. Prior to last week, the Islanders hadn’t beaten three straight teams that qualified for the Stanley Cup tournament the prior season since October 2019 — the second month of Trotz’s second season.

“We have a lot of character, obviously, and they’ve been through a lot in different situations,” said head coach Lane Lambert. “We’re just continuing to build. It’s a good character-builder for us.”

Almost as importantly, the Islanders had 76 shots in the last two wins, offering some evidence that Lambert is going to be able to figure out a way to generate the offense Trotz couldn’t unearth over most of the last three regular seasons.

“I think we’re confident (getting) those wins,” said Mayfield, who also scored the game-tying goal against the Lightning in the Coliseum finale. “I think we know the guys in this room, too.”

And now they know how UBS Arena might sound if there are meaningful games to be played, too.

“It was pretty good out there,” Mayfield said with a grin.