On March 12, 2020, the sports world came to a pause due to COVID-19 when the New York Islanders were on a seven-game losing streak. They were headed to Calgary to try to turn things around, only to find out that the regular season had come to a halt due to the pandemic. Nobody knew when hockey would come back or in what form it would come back. The Islanders’ 5-4 shootout loss to Vancouver seemed to be their final game of the season, at least until Gary Bettman and the National Hockey League announced a once-in-a-lifetime experience: the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a bubble.

It appeared as if the wheels were falling off the wagon for the Islanders, as they had won just 10 out of their previous 30 games heading into the unprecedented pause. They were missing players, most notably defender Adam Pelech, and their defense looked discombobulated without his services. It is safe to say the Islanders were one of the teams that benefited the most from such a long pause. They used the pause to get healthy, and they came out of it as a newly structured, rejuvenated, and most importantly, brand new hockey team.

While the reason for such an unexpected pause is tragic, vile and far more important than the game, the Islanders took advantage of the pause and used it as an opportunity to regroup. During the pause, head coach Barry Trotz consistently said that he believed that hockey would be back soon and that his players would be prepared. At the time, this seemed extremely unlikely due to the nature of the pandemic and the difficulty of the decisions the NHL had to make. However, it was evident that his attitude was the right one, as the Islanders were one of the most prepared teams in the whole tournament. Since the pause, they have been a top-two team in the NHL.

Calling a team “top-two” takes quite a lot. However, besides the Tampa Bay Lightning and perhaps the Vegas Golden Knights, it is hard to name a team in the National Hockey League that has been consistently better than the New York Islanders. Going into the pause, the Islanders were a solid team that had gained some playoff experience but were far from a lock for the postseason, especially as their chances appeared to crumble. Since then, they have made the Eastern Conference Final, and now, they battle atop the MassMutual East division, the toughest division in the league. Altogether, the COVID-19 pause acted as a transitional period for the New York Islanders, as they developed from a very good hockey team to a great hockey team.

2020 Return to Play

The NHL’s Return to Play was a resounding success for the New York Islanders. Without much recognition from the hockey community going into the tournament, New York shocked the world and went on a deep run in the playoffs. While the circumstances were much different, playing in a bubble and living in Canada, the Islanders took down some worthy opponents and fought tooth and nail with the Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Islanders were the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference thanks to points percentage from the 2019-20 regular season, and as a result, they had to play in the “qualifiers” to officially make the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On the other side was the 10th seed Florida Panthers, a team with offensive prowess but a clear lack of defense.

In a best-of-five series, the Islanders convincingly handled Florida with a 3-1 series win, outscoring them 13-7. Escaping with wins in Games 1 and 2, the Islanders dropped a close Game 3 by a score of 3-2. The Islanders would not bring their losing ways to Game 4, where they defeated Florida 5-1 and officially qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After the NHL reseeded the bracket, the Islanders went on to take on the third-seed Washington Capitals in the “first round” of the playoffs. The first period of Game 1 was scoreless, but it was extremely physical and it was clear that a long war was coming… or so we thought. Emerging with a comeback victory in Game 1, a one-sided victory in Game 2, and a Game 3 victory with a Mathew Barzal overtime goal, the Islanders were in the driving seat. Unable to squash the bug in Game 4, the Islanders went on to take Game 5 by a score of 4-0 thanks to a Semyon Varlamov shutout. The Islanders were absolutely rolling into the next round.

Their matchups certainly would not get any easier, as they had to face the top seed and a newly arisen wagon in the Philadelphia Flyers. The Islanders gave Philadelphia troubles right off of the opening draw of the series, as they took Game 1 4-0. Game 2 was not so pretty, however. After breaking the Islanders playoff shutout streak, Semyon Varlamov gave up three goals in the first period and was pulled for Thomas Greiss. Crawling all the way back to tie the game, the Islanders eventually fell 4-3 in overtime.

Each team then took two games. The Islanders opened up a 3-1 series lead but dropped two games in a row in overtime as the rejuvenated Flyers forced a Game 7. Semyon Varlamov began to struggle, so Barry Trotz gave Thomas Greiss the nod for the series finale. While he was not overly busy in the deciding game, he made all 16 stops in a 4-0 victory. For the first time since 1993, the Islanders made the conference final.

All good things must come to an end, and that’s what happened when the Islanders switched bubbles from Toronto to Edmonton to take on the juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning. After losing Game 1, 8-2, and losing in the final seconds of Game 2, the Islanders had to climb such a tall mountain to come back against a ridiculously stacked Bolts team. While they fought and forced a Game 6, an Anthony Cirelli overtime winner put an end to the Islanders’ dominant run.

While the Islanders ran into the one superior team in the tournament, the group saw so many drastic improvements. After spending the pause training in Texas, Semyon Varlamov improved in so many different ways, including rebound control, vision, and quickness. He has been a Vezina candidate ever since. The Islanders were dominant all tournament at even-strength, and it was apparent that a new level of confidence was present in the group. A lot of those positives carried into this season.

2021 Regular Season

Despite their dominance in the postseason, the Islanders had several doubters heading into the 2021 season. They lost Devon Toews and Derick Brassard due to salary cap issues, and they were placed in a stacked division with a new playoff format. The Islanders were, once again, written off.

It seemed as if claims about the Islanders’ demise had some merit in the early stages of the season. Starting 3-4-2 with a five-game losing streak embedded in that tough start, the Islanders found themselves in last place in the MassMutual East division and had quite the hole out of which to dig themselves.

Since then, the Islanders have been the best team in the league, going 16-4-2 in their last 20 games, including a recent nine-game winning streak. They have often found themselves atop the East Division and even the National Hockey League.

Part of their success is due to their incredible goaltending. Ilya Sorokin is 6-0-0 in his past six starts, and Semyon Varlamov is posting Vezina-worthy numbers with a .923% SV and 2.17 GAA in 20 games played.

Also, young players such as Oliver Wahlstrom, Kieffer Bellows, Ilya Sorokin, Noah Dobson and Sebastian Aho have all gotten increased roles in the Islanders lineup and have been crucial to New York’s success thus far.

Needless to say, the Islanders have been among the league’s best teams since the COVID-19 pause. To put an end to the nonsensical debate, the Islanders are for real.

John Smark