We’ve seen the Islanders do this before. It’s becoming something of a regularity.
Two years ago, it was a 14-7-2 run after Mat Barzal went down injured, culminating in a win-and-in victory in Game 82 to clinch a playoff berth.
Last year, it was a 10-2-1 finish without a regulation loss in the month of April, pulling the Islanders into the postseason when their chances looked shot after a six-game losing streak in March.
This time? The Islanders traded Brock Nelson ahead of the deadline, an admission that they couldn’t solely prioritize a playoff berth while sitting in 13th place in the East on deadline day.
The last time they occupied a playoff spot in the standings was Nov. 19. Only in the nominal sense was there still a shot at making it.
And yet, here we are.
“It feels very similar,” Adam Pelech told The Post on Tuesday night in a victorious dressing room after the Islanders overturned a two-goal deficit in the final period to beat the Penguins 4-2 and pull within three points of the Canadiens for the final playoff spot.
Suddenly, the Islanders have put together two straight multi-goal comebacks — their first time doing so in consecutive games in regulation ever, per team statistician Eric Hornick.
Suddenly, the Islanders are staring at a home date against the Habs on Thursday that is their biggest game of the season.
Suddenly, they have a real chance at this thing. Again.
“Every season’s different, but we’ve found ourselves the last couple years in this situation,” Noah Dobson said. “It’s a veteran group in here, but we know it’s not always gonna be pretty. You just gotta find a way to dig deep. We just go one game at a time. That’s two in a row here. Look to build and get ready for a big one Thursday.”
There’s plenty of time left, with 15 games to go in a regular season that can go any way from here.
Four weeks until the regular-season finale in Columbus doesn’t feel like long, but in reality, it’s an eternity.
The Islanders, though, have something that no other team in this race has: extensive experience doing just this.
They’re used to the last 15 games of the season all feeling like must-wins.
Unlike the Rangers and Bruins, they’re used to treating the eight-seed like something to be fought for.
Unlike Montreal, Columbus and Detroit, they’ve played in and won these fights before.
That counts for something. It did Sunday against Florida and again Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
“Kinda the same message,” Dobson said. “We weren’t playing bad hockey but found ourselves down two. Came out right from the start in the third, big goal by [Kyle Palmieri], and then just controlled the whole period. Love the resilience. Just love our mindset going into the third.”
With Barzal hurt again and Nelson now playing for the Avalanche, the Islanders are far from the most talented team in this race. Of course, you could have said the same last year and possibly the year before.
But when they say there’s still belief in the room for the umpteenth time, the Islanders are very much telling the truth.
They know how to handle the mental toll of an up-and-down playoff chase and how to shake off the inevitable bad nights that will come.
At no point this season have the Islanders looked better than a mediocre squad, but under these circumstances, they are in their element.
“We have a ton of belief in ourselves,” Pelech said. “We know we’ve done it before. So that definitely gives us confidence heading into the final stretch of the season.”