Islanders beat Blackhawks to inch closer to playoff cutline with reinforcements on horizon
NY Post
Nobody throws parties for NHL-.500, and Islanders coach Patrick Roy was very much not in the mood to do so after watching his team take its foot off the gas at the end of its win Thursday.
Still, this day that started with good news and ended with two points marks as good a spot as the Islanders have been in for a while.
They can see a healthy team on the horizon, with Mat Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech all being full participants at a morning skate for the first time since getting hurt.
They can see the playoff cutline in their sights, now a point behind a spot and behind the struggling Rangers only due to games in hand, with both teams at 31 points.
The goal has been to tread water until healthy, and after beating the Blackhawks, 5-4, at UBS Arena on Thursday, the Islanders are back at NHL-.500 — the definition of treading water — with wins in three of their past four and a group of injured stars getting close to returning.
Any good feelings, though, were cut short by a furious head coach, who watched his team stop playing hard and let up three straight goals in the final 10 minutes, with Tyler Bertuzzi pulling the Blackhawks to 5-4 with two goals a minute apart, the second coming with 10 seconds to go in the game.
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