Islanders provide good reason for optimism with well-rounded win over Maple Leafs

TORONTO — OK, maybe there’s something here. 

If this is what the Islanders can do with a healthy forward group, if this is the sort of physicality and effort they can bring on a nightly basis, if they can roll four lines the way they did Saturday in Toronto, then the five-point gap to the playoffs the Islanders started the day staring at is going to be nothing. 

Easier said than done, as anyone with even a passing familiarity of these Islanders is well aware. 

Still, this 6-3 victory over the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on the night of Anthony Duclair’s return to the lineup marked one of the best 60-minute efforts the Islanders have put forth in recent memory. 

“Might’ve been our best game of the season — at least that I’ve played in,” Mat Barzal said after his empty-netter sealed the win. 

This, surely, was what Lou Lamoriello and Patrick Roy envisioned during training camp — a lineup that suddenly looked deep, physical and offensively skilled throughout, that finished checks and controlled the game on the road against a high-end opponent.