When the New York Islanders acquired Kyle Palmieri a few days before the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline, this was the kind of hockey they were expecting.

Palmieri lit the lamp twice and notched an assist in Monday's 5-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, giving him five goals and five assists over his last six games as the Islanders extended their wild-card lead. 

He now has 15 goals and 16 assists in 48 games. 

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His assist got the Islanders on the board first, and his first goal served as the eventual game-winner.

Just a tad over 7:30 into the game, Palmieri found himself on a breakaway, and although Devils netminder Vitke Vanecek made the save, linemate Pierre Engvall took out the trash:

His first goal, coming at 5:39 of the second, showed off his patience as he caught up to a loose puck and circled the net on the backhand before roofing one to give his team a 2-1 lead. 

"I got so deep with it. By the time I got up to the puck and it was on my backhand, I was hoping to get around and kind of try and find Engvall on the back door," Palmieri said. "And the way it developed...I saw Nelson come down through the slot. I wanted him first, and it ended up just kind of being a bit of a cluster in there, and I found some space and tried to get a shot off.

Here's what Engvall saw: "I was thinking I was going to get it on the far post. That's why I went there. And then he was just holding on, holding on, and holding on and made a sick play."

As for his second goal, it was an absolute missile into the glove-side toy department after strong forechecking by Nelson and Engvall.

"It was kind of a puck that just squirted out," Palmieri said. Pierre and Nelson were getting in on the forecheck, and I was just coming across to be support and be above one of their guys, and lucky enough, the puck found its way to me."

Besides stacking the scoresheet, Palmieri led the Islanders with seven shots on goal. 

"He's been good since he came back," Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said. "We've talked about that over and over again. He's injected an element of offense into our group, and he's doing very much the same thing he's been doing since he came back.

 "He's just getting rewarded for it."

Since returning from his second upper-body injury of the year on Jan. 23, one could argue that Palmieri has been one of their better forwards, along with his linemate Brock Nelson.

After 27 games back in the lineup, Palmieri has scored nine goals, which ranks third on the team behind Nelson's 15 and Anders Lee's 12.

How can you tell Palmieri is on his game? Well, he's not missing chances.

According to NaturalStatrick.com, Pamieri has an Individual Expected Goals For of 7.64 since returning, so not only is he burying the chances he creates for himself, but he's finding ways to sneak a few more behind the opposing netminders. 

His 13 assists have him tied for first on New York with Noah Dobson. Nine of the 13 assists have been of the primary variety. 

Palmieri's pace over this 27-game stretch equates to a 67-point campaign across an 82-game slate. It's a flawed prediction because Palmieri has not been healthy the last two seasons. 

But what that forecast does show is that Palmieri can be the forward that the Islanders traded for, the forward they've been paying $5 million a year since the start of the 2021-22 campaign. 

When Palmieri has been on the ice over these last 27 contests, the Islanders have outscored their opponent 34-19. It can't be stated enough how much he impacts the defensive side of the puck.

Along with his linemates Nelson and Engvall, per MoneyPuck.com, that threesome has outscored their opponents 9-1 in 66:20 minutes together. 

Kyle Palmieri was brought here to light the lamp. And with how much Bo Horvat has struggled to score goals, snapping an 11-game goal drought Monday night, Palmieri's uptick in production, especially over the last handful of games, is a prime reason why the New York Islanders hold down the top wild-card spot in the East.