The Islanders’ offense has come through in waves so far in the postseason

Better late than never. That should be the moniker to describe what has unfolded for the New York Islanders in their postseason run thus far.

Mainly, their offense.

Amid the struggles, all season long leading to when the coronavirus pandemic forced the league to shut down, the Isles’ attack has really hit their stride and have shown there is no quit in them.

Take yesterday, for example.

The Islanders found themselves down 2-0 to the Washington Capitals as a result of penalties and a bad bounce. Jordan Eberle — who continues to come up huge in the postseason — got a cheap one past Braden Holtby just before the second period ended.

Then the floodgates opened.

What followed was a barrage from the rest of the offense, which led to three more unanswered goals in a 7:55 span of the third and ultimately them coming away with a 4-2 win and a 1-0 series lead.

“Honestly we knew how the game was going, we felt like we were generating chances that just hadn’t gone in at that point,” captain Anders Lee told reporters after the win. “Going into the third was that same mentality. Keep the foot on the gas and keep getting pucks to the net, but just as a group, we all settled in and played a really smart period and got some phenomenal plays from Nelly, Barzy and Bails and Beau.”

Yesterday’s comeback though, seems to have become a recurring theme, one which has made the Isles one of the most intriguing teams still playing.

Their goal totals so far in the postseason reads as: 2, 4, 2, 5, 4. Granted, those games with just the two goals happened to be their game one win to start the playoffs, where they shut it down defensively and suffocated the Panthers’ forwards, the other being their only loss on in the postseason.

Still, the rest of the goal totals have been somewhat remarkable. A great deal of that can also be contributed to how dominant they’ve been at even strength.

Playing at 5-on-5 in the playoffs, the Islanders have scored 12 times. They’ve given up only three goals when at events strength.

That’s exactly the game head coach Barry Trotz wants his team to play. Trotz has repeated time and time again that he would take his team at 5-on-5 against any other team in the league.

What’s even more impressive thing from the Isles’ offense breaking out is that everyone has gotten into the mix. It’s a far cry from where they were before the season was postponed; the Isles depended on one line — the first line — to keep them in games.

Now that no longer seems to be the case.

After Eberle’s tally yesterday it Anders Lee, who finally got on the board, and it was the combination of Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, and Brock Nelson, who led the charge. That trio combined for seven, yes SEVEN points in the third period. In the previous round —  the production came from Anthony Beauvillier, who scored again in the victory, J.G. Pageau, Tom Kuhnhackl, Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews, among many others.

All the talk before the playoffs began was whether or not the Islanders would get back to their defensive structure. Well, they have. But it’s been their offensive output that has been a welcoming addition to their success.

The offense has come in waves, and one can only hope it continues as the team fights on the rest of the postseason.