The New York Islanders’ roller coaster of a season had plenty of highs and more than enough lows. They had plenty of games go to overtime, 26 to be exact, and multiple games where they had comfortable leads in the third period, only to fall apart and end up on the losing end. The Islanders won games with their offense but by the end of the season, they returned to their bread and butter by winning with defense and great goaltending.
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Following their 4-1 win on April 15 against the New Jersey Devils they are locked into the third seed in the Metropolitan Division and will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. There will be plenty of time to preview the rematch against the same team that eliminated them last season making this a good time to look back on the regular season. With a lot of big moments, the wild ride to the playoffs wouldn’t be complete without a few that defined the Islanders’ journey.
The Reilly & Bortuzzo Additions
Twenty or 30 games into every season is when injuries start to test a team’s depth and the Islanders were no exception. The defense particularly was falling apart with Ryan Pulock placed on the long-term injured reserve list (LTIR), Adam Pelech missing a few weeks, and Scott Mayfield battling injuries all season and eventually being placed on LTIR. After their Dec. 27, 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was noticeable that the defense wasn’t the same as the ones in previous seasons.
The first move general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello made was acquiring Mike Reilly, a 30-year-old journeyman who struggled to find a role on the Florida Panthers’ defensive unit. To add more depth to the unit, Lamoriello then acquired Robert Bortuzzo from the St. Louis Blues who at 34 was added to provide a veteran presence to the third pairing.
Reilly was a key part of the Islanders’ playoff push. With six goals and 17 assists, he was one of the few defensemen on the team who added a scoring presence and his 2.1 defensive point shares were fourth-most on the unit, making him one of the unsung heroes for the Islanders. Bortuzzo didn’t have the same impact but he helped round out the defense and he’ll be a vital part of the unit in a playoff series.
With the defense having the skaters in place to keep the unit from falling apart, the Islanders looked like a team poised to finish the season near the top of the standings. Then came the collapse that started on Dec. 27 and extended until the All-Star Break.
January is Lambert’s Last Straw
In 2023-24, the Islanders struggled in January, particularly on the offensive end of the ice, averaging only 1.93 goals per game. Playing poorly in the middle of the season wasn’t a new thing under Lane Lambert but this season, this team looked lost and poised to watch their season spiral out of control.
They only won two of 10 games and suffered some brutal losses. On Jan. 6, they lost 5-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights, and on Jan. 9, they lost by the same score to the Vancouver Canucks. Then came an embarrassing 5-0 defeat on Jan. 15 to the Minnesota Wild, a team that wasn’t going to make the playoffs which came in the middle of the four-game losing streak capped off by Lambert’s final game as the head coach. On Jan. 19, against one of the worst teams in the league, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Islanders lost 4-3 in overtime and it forced Lamoriello to make a coaching change.
Lambert will be seen as the scapegoat for the team’s struggles and in a lot of ways, he isn’t judged fairly. That said, a change was needed. The Islanders were a poorly coached team at the halfway point of the season. They took penalties and allowed teams to take advantage of them. They couldn’t close out games and missed assignments to allow opponents to find easy scoring chances. On top of all that, they looked like a team without energy and in desperate need of a spark and boy did the Islanders get one.
The Coaching Change
On Jan. 20, Lamoriello hired Patrick Roy, and while the roster remained the same, everything about the team changed after that. It takes time to implement a new system yet the Islanders played a tighter, disciplined, and more structured game almost immediately after he was hired. A lot of moments in the season helped the Islanders make the playoffs but the Roy hiring goes beyond that. It’s a moment that can change the trajectory of a franchise.
Former head coach Barry Trotz made the team competitive and led the Islanders to two deep playoff runs. Roy is still putting his fingerprints on the Islanders and his influence can turn this team into a perennial Cup contender, one that eventually wins a title. The hire was a risky one considering Roy was out of the NHL for a few years yet the risk is already paying off and looks to be one of the better moves of Lamoriello’s tenure.
At first, it didn’t look like the coaching change would save the season. The Islanders won their first game with Roy behind the bench and then lost the next three as they entered the All-Star Break with a 20-17-12 record and six points out of a playoff spot. Then the Islanders started to play with the same fire and energy that their head coach displayed both on and off the ice.
The Islanders returned from the break and earned points in five of six games. With Roy leading them, they looked like a balanced team that could make noise if they made the playoffs. All they needed was one or two additions to take a good team and put it over the top. It made the trade deadline a defining point in the season.
Lamoriello’s Silence at the Deadline
It’s not a shock to see Lamoriello stand pat and not make any big moves. He rarely if ever makes a big signing in the offseason and the same can be said about trades ahead of the deadline. Yet it still was tough to digest considering where the Islanders were at the time. They were playing well and just needed that minor addition to solidify their place at the top of the standings. Lamoriello did nothing and it left the Islanders with a low ceiling. Sure they could reach the playoffs, but could they make a deep playoff run? At the time, it felt doubtful.
Even worse, the Islanders fell apart immediately after the trade deadline. They lost six games in a row and the season looked like it was once again spiraling out of control, a common theme of the season but in March, it was a growing concern. It looked like the silent trade deadline would be Lamoriello’s final impression as the GM as the ownership group would look for someone willing to be more aggressive instead of the reserved and aging GM.
The lack of movement signaled confidence in the group which isn’t a shock considering Lamoriello’s history. After every quiet offseason or trade deadline with little action, he states that he’s confident in the group that’s in place. However, it also stressed that the biggest move was already made. Lamoriello hired Roy and that alone was enough to get the Islanders to the playoffs.
Varlamov Takes Over in Goal
Roy made a lot of bold decisions and changes as the head coach. He put the lines in a blender multiple times with Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, and Mathew Barzal playing on the same line at one point while the team finished the season with Casey Cizikas playing on the top line alongside Barzal and Horvat. He deployed two defensemen on the second power-play unit, a strategy that frankly, hasn’t worked out. Roy also had Kyle Palmieri take on a greater role in the offense and it unlocked the veteran winger who scored 18 goals and 10 assists following the coaching change.
However, the move that secured a playoff spot was the decision to roll with Semyon Varlamov as the starting goaltender down the stretch. Ilya Sorokin is one of the best in the NHL but he was overworked this season, facing 1,778 shots which are second-most in the league behind only Juuse Saros. Varlamov at 35 isn’t as good as he used to be but he’s still capable of playing at a high level, something the Islanders saw firsthand when they turned to him to save their season.
Roy started Varlamov in the March 23 game against the Winnipeg Jets and since then has turned to the veteran eight times. Varlamov has been on the winning end of seven of those games and has only allowed 16 goals while putting together a .935 save percentage (SV%). The highlight of the recent stretch and possibly of the season was Varlamov’s 41-save shutout on April 6 against the Nashville Predators. He’s been the hot hand and it’s helped the Islanders not only secure a playoff spot but the third-best record in the Metropolitan Division.
Sorokin is the goaltender of the future for the Islanders. Roy knows that, but he also knows when an elite goaltender needs a rest and when a veteran can carry a team. If anyone knows how to manage goaltenders, especially elite ones, it’s Roy, who was one himself back in his playing days. His decision to start Varlamov saved the season and his knowledge of the position gives the Islanders an advantage heading into the playoffs.
Other Season-Defining Moments
The Islanders won 10 games in overtime, making it hard to point to one as the most iconic or one to remember. The two against the Toronto Maple Leafs were exciting and involved the Barzal-Horvat connection while the Feb. 26 one against the Dallas Stars saw Barzal put the team on his back with a remarkable shift and a pass to set up the game-winning goal. There was also the April 1 game against the Philadelphia Flyers where the Palmieri-Nelson connection gave the Islanders a much-needed win over their Metropolitan Division rival.
In terms of brutal losses, the Dec. 5 loss to the San Jose Sharks stood out as they blew a 4-1 lead in the third period and lost in overtime to a last-place team. The Stadium Series game also was memorable as it had plenty of action but for the Islanders, it was a devastating loss as they fell apart late to lose 6-5 in overtime.
This season has been a long one with plenty of ups and downs already. Yet, it’s not over and the Islanders have a chance to both get revenge for their playoff defeat last season and make a deep playoff run with a roster that has a lot of momentum as the season comes to a close.