The Islanders' 19 regulation wins are the fewest among the top 10 teams in the Eastern Conference, important since that will be the first playoff tie-breaker after 82 games.
On the plus side, they are 11-6 in games that go past regulation and have 27 regulation or overtime wins, which will be the second tiebreaker. That speaks to a resiliency under pressure.
So do the first two games on their three-game Brooklyn homestand, which concludes against the Kings on Thursday night at Barclays Center.
The Islanders beat the Stars, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday and are on a 2-0-2 run. Mathew Barzal scored the power-play equalizer at 16:01 of the third period, after Brock Nelson's apparent power-play goal at 14:33 was overturned because of goalie interference. Nelson's equalizer with 25.1 seconds left allowed the Islanders to rally from a two-goal deficit and salvage an important point in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Canucks.
"If something goes wrong, we find a way to turn it around quick," Barzal said. "After goals and stuff, we seem to bounce back quick and have our legs."
That's something Barry Trotz worked after becoming coach prior to last season.
"The first probably 10 games, as soon as the game got close, everybody was like a cat on a hot tin roof," Trotz said. "Everybody was jumping around. Everybody got all excited. What you have to do is just trust that you're going to get your job done and the guy next to you is up. We were able to establish that last year and we have a lot of guys back from last year.
"Lately, we've been staying very predictable and staying on task and knowing what we want to get done," Trotz added. "We're getting more chances. We're getting more zone time. Then, right at the end, we're getting that goal when we need it by getting dirty, being committed in those hard areas."
The Islanders, 7-6-3 since the NHL's December holiday break, moved back into fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the third-place Blue Jackets and with three games in hand. They hold the first wild-card spot in the East by one point over the Flyers, who have played two extra games.
"We have a couple of games in hand," Trotz said. "But they don't mean anything unless you win. But, if you win them, you put a lot of pressure on the other teams."
The Islanders will be able to put more pressure on opponents if they can resume rolling four consistent lines. They seemed to take a step in that direction on Tuesday as Kieffer Bellows made his NHL debut on Derick Brassard's third line with Michael Dal Colle. The two wings assisted on Brassard's second-period goal, which snapped his 18-game goal drought.
"There was just a comfort factor in playing with Brass and DC," said Bellows, the 19th overall pick in 2016. "It's a lot of fun playing with them."
