Wild-Card Leading Islanders With Time to Regroup, Get Healthy Ahead of Final Four

The New York Islanders, who are clinging to a wild-card spot, will have to use this three-day game break to regroup and get healthy ahead of their final four games.

With the New York Islanders barely clinging to the top wild-card spot with four games to go, they get a much-needed three-day break from game action as they don't play again until Thursday night when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning to town.

Not only can Islanders head coach Lane Lambert and his players try to get to the bottom of their weekend woes, a 5-0 loss to the Tamp Bay Lightning and a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, but they also can get a bit healthier as they head into these final four games of the season.

Mathew Barzal is skating, that we know. Per general manager Lou Lamoriello, he started skating this past weekend. The expectation is that he will continue skating and rejoin the group at some point for practice before the end of the season.

These three days between games may allow Barzal to get back faster than if the Islanders had games, which would eliminate the number of potential team skates.

Barzal needs game-like situations, which he cannot create on his own, as he's missed 19 games. 

The break also gives defenseman Alexander Romanov the ability to work through the injury that kept him out of the lineup on Sunday night.

In Saturday's loss, Romanov suffered an upper-body injury (injuries) after being tackled to the ice by Tampa forward Corey Perry.

Romanov left the game holding his arm after the trainer came out, but he did return for the third.

Lambert said Sunday night that Romanov was day-to-day.

The 22-year-old has been one of the Islanders' best defensemen as of late, working wonders alongside Ryan Pulock, so it's crucial that he can get healthy here for the final four games.

Sebastian Aho, who did return Sunday after missing six games with an upper-body injury, also can use this time to find his legs again.

We are through 78 games. Everyone is dealing with something. Rest time, which the Islanders never got in the second half of last season, could serve as a real difference. 

The New York Islanders' power play has been an issue for most of the season, currently sitting at 16 percent, third-worst in the league.

The power play looked much stronger following the acquisition of Bo Horvat. 

The Islander went six for 17 over their six games following the All-Star break with him and Barzal together. 

But since Barzal went down the Islanders have come through just five times on 47 tries (10.6%) over the last 20 games. 

Over the last five games (2-3-0), the Islanders have failed to capitalize on any of their 11 power-play chances, with 11 shots.

"I think we are having problems getting the puck into the zone. It starts right there," Lambert said following Sunday's loss, in which they went scoreless on two power-play opportunities."

As for what they can do to get the power play going, as past numbers don't matter at this point:

"Well, we continue to work on it and continue to try to come up with different ways to alleviate the situation, alleviate the problem," Lambert said. "All we can do is continue to work on it. We had a great chance to tie it--Bo Horvat in the slot--so that would have been a good one to have."

When the Islanders return from their three-day break, they face the Lightning yet again, this time on their home turf.

With the win over the Islanders on Saturday, the Lightning clinched the postseason for a sixth-straight year. Not that it's a given Jon Cooper would rest some of his Lightning stars, but it is quite possible.

The Islanders have a significant advantage for their final three games, as they come against teams on the outside looking in.

They face the lackluster Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at UBS Arena, the almost-eliminated Washington Capitals Monday on the road, followed by their season-finale at home against a bottom-five Montreal Canadiens team.

This season they are 2-1-0 against Philadelphia, 1-1 against Washington, and 1-0-1 against Montreal.

To take it a step further, the Islanders are 3-0-0 against those teams this season in the locations where the games will be played.

Whether things go south Thursday against Tampa, the Islanders must show up for all three games to secure a playoff spot, with no room for error.