The Many Reasons Why The Islanders Made The Playoffs

Why are the Islanders in and Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Detroit and Buffalo are not?

Let's face it, the New York Islanders were not supposed to make the playoffs.

"Too old and too slow." That was one of the easy rips on them, and the knocks went on and on, ad nauseam.

So how come they are in and Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Detroit and Buffalo are not?

Start with goaltending.

G.M. Lou Lamoriello resisted any attempt to trade Semyon Varlamov. The value of having a number 1 and a number 1A goaltender was as much as any reason for his club's ability to survive the 82-game marathon.

As good as Ilya Sorokin has been in this his best campaign as top banana, Varly was equally effective when called upon to pinch-goal for his buddy.

While other clubs ran through three, four, sometimes five stoppers, the Isles made do with their competent pair and it made a difference.

While other clubs spent big, made splashy moves and got the headlines, Lamoriello accented the "family" aspect of his team and, together, they managed to dodge the detours and plow ahead to the Finish Line.

When the season reached the far turn and moved toward the homestretch, the franchise took its biggest hit when Mat Barzal went down with a serious injury on February 18, never to return during the season.

"They won't recover," was the press box view. And, the truth of the matter is that I shared that view.

But Lou swung into action; he promoted Hudson Fasching from Bridgeport, and the rookie began looking like a latter-day John Tonelli.

Left wing Pierre Engvall was obtained via trade with Toronto, and he snugly fit into the lineup as a solid 200-foot, two-way player.

After the blockbuster deal with Vancouver, Bo Horvat failed to put up big numbers, but more than compensated with the little things that mean a lot -- and that meant a lot when it came to the Isles being better than Pittsburgh and the other Wild Card competitors.

There were flaws, to be sure. Once Barzal went down, the power play went down with him. For reasons hard to fathom, the Nassaumen often had more trouble beating the bottom feeders than la creme de la creme.

They managed to keep pace because -- on any given night -- Lambert developed more depth from the first to the fourth line than the Flyers, Blue Jackets, Penguins, Sabres, Red Wings, and Capitals.

The "too old" critique may have looked smart on paper, but the likes of veterans such as Zach Parise, Kyle Palmieri, Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin, and Casey Cizikas still have gas in their tanks

In the end, each proved as valuable as any foe in securing the Wild Card berth.

Likewise, we cannot overlook the coach and his behind-the-scenes contribution.

Succeeding Barry Trotz was no easy task but Lambert went about his business, accomplishing what neither John Tortorella, Brad Larsen, Peter Laviolette nor Mike Sullivan could do. He got his guys into the playoffs.

There isn't a Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Johnny Gaudreau or Alex Ovechkin dominating the Isles lineup yet it is a team, and somehow it did the trick.

Lee was an effective leader while Parise, Pageau, and Clutterbuck provided help as the support staff.

One more thing: when Barzal went down, I contacted a behind the scenes pal who specializes in analytics for a big network.

"What are the chances of the Islanders making the playoffs?" I asked.

"Slim to none," he replied. "They'll need 96 points and there's no way they'll even get close."

They got close with 93 and, better still, they're in; Pittsburgh, not!