A week ago, a wobbly New York Islanders team prepared for a road trip that included shaky stops in Dallas and Detroit. Now, they are riding a three-game win streak into Tuesday's game.
A week ago, a wobbly New York Islanders team prepared for a road trip that included shaky stops in Dallas and Detroit.
That's two daunting D's in succession and the ominous dread of defeat hung over Islanders Nation.
Perhaps, worse still, that road duet would be followed by a Boston sextet which has been hanging out at the NHL peak for many months.
Now if you had asked The Maven -- and any horde of hockey fans from Northern Boulevard to Northport -- whether Patrick Roy's skaters could go three-for-three, you'd get a horse laugh from here to the Belmont Stables.
Yet here we are in the National Hockey League's homestretch and -- yesiree, Bob -- our guys batted a thousand on the road and, as an added fillip, beat the Big, Bad Bruins on Saturday night at UBS.
Sorry, but we are not awarded a playoff berth on the strength of three-for-three, no matter how you shake it. As for four-for-four, we now have the St.Louis Blues in town for the Tuesday night challenge; and challenge is what it will be.
Perhaps it would have been easier had the team enjoyed the momentum carrying into a Monday night game; perhaps not.
Perhaps it's best that they obtained a bit of a rest before taking on the Blues. Only time will tell.
But The Maven will tell you this much: If, somehow, Kyle (Quick Hat Trick) Palmieri, Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Mat Barzal, Face-Off Man Pageau, and Ilya Sorokin duplicate their efforts, hey, we'll have something to crow about on Wednesday
Namely, a real streak -- and hope!