NHL
Published on March 2, 2024
Updated March 2, 2024, 10:56 p.m. ET
The Islanders' playoff push is real.
Facing one of the best teams in hockey and having a chance to win three in a row for the first time since December, the Islanders not only picked up two points, but also earned an emphatic and outstanding 5-1 victory over the Bruins the basis of a first victory. Natural hat trick from Kyle Palmieri.
The Isles' transformation under Patrick Roy took time, but Saturday – if it proves sustainable – looked to be an impressive product.
Kyle Palmieri (left) celebrates with Jean-Gabriel Pageau after scoring a hat trick in the first period of the Islanders' game against the Bruins. Robert Sabo for NY Post
All four forward lines tested the attack, playing below the hash marks and spending time in the offensive zone.
The Islanders – a team that is often criticized for their lack of speed – played just as fast as the Bruins.
They crashed the network. The penalty didn't let up.
Overall, it was by far the best 60 minutes of the season as the Islanders kept pace with Philadelphia, who beat Ottawa, in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Palmeri's hat trick, the fastest start to a game in Islanders history and their first of the season, began 3:32 into the game when he beat Linus Ullmark off the rush.
Less than two minutes later, after a penalty from James van Riemsdyk for holding, Palmieri converted a rebound from Bo Horvat to make it 2-0.
Then, at 12:19, he was at the net again to clear Ryan Pulock's first shot.
A fan throws a hat onto the ice after Kyle Palmierie completed a hat trick in the first period of the Islanders' game against the Bruins. Robert Sabo for NY Post
It was the first first-half hat trick by an Islander since Jason Blake on February 27, 2007 against Philadelphia and the first for Palmieri since October 30, 2019, when he was with the Devils.
And Palmieri wasn't done yet, scoring his fourth point of the night just 46 seconds into the second period when Anders Lee ended an odd rush by scoring on his own rebound.
If the nightmares of the point-scoring collapses that have been the order of the day for the Islanders this season continued and anyone at UBS Arena felt unsafe from there, it was certainly when Brock Nelson later in the second round scored the goal to make it 5-0.
This was a night where even the bad moments could be quickly revised.
Anders Lee (right) celebrates after scoring a goal in the Islanders' win. USA TODAY Sports via Portal Con
Palmieri went down on a Parker Wotherspoon goal with 13:26 left in the second half, but returned to the game at the end of the quarter.
Marc McLaughlin ended Ilya Sorokin's shutout in the second period, but the Bruins entered the break with just 14 shots on net – a reflection of how the Isles took advantage of almost every opportunity and won almost every puck battle.
A perfect game may have been unattainable. But that wasn't far off.
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the Islanders' win. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The Islanders still have a long way to go before they are on the right side of the playoff fence.
But if general manager Lou Lamoriello had even the slightest thought of selling at the trade deadline in the back of his mind, it's certainly gone now.
The Islanders can't take their foot off the gas now. But their confidence, which Roy said just last week he wanted to improve, appears to be increasing.
At the right time, with the right lines, with the right coach, the Islanders finally seem to be getting hot.
In the last minute.
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