970x125
Traditionally, the first game back home after a West Coast trip is always tough.
The twist for the Islanders, as they prepare for a weekend back-to-back against the Blues on Saturday and the Kraken on Sunday, is that they already have been back in the Eastern time zone for the past few days.
The trip took them as far as Las Vegas but slowly crawled back toward New York with stops in the Mountain and Central time zones before Thursday’s 5-0 win against the Red Wings in the Eastern time zone.
In theory, at least, that should spare them some of the jet lag that usually comes on a return home from such a long trip.
Still, it stands to reason there will be some tired legs at UBS over the weekend. After Sunday, the Islanders will have played seven games in 11 days in one of the more unforgiving stretches of an unforgiving 82-game slate.
On paper, the Blues, who have lost four games in a row and have both Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer struggling in goal, should be a more than manageable opponent. And the Kraken, who are 10-5-5 heading into their game in Philadelphia on Saturday, will be on the second end of a back-to-back Sunday, just like the Islanders.
The Islanders also have won seven of their past nine games at home against St. Louis, including a 3-1 victory at UBS last March.
So it could be worse, especially given the Islanders are playing their best hockey in a long time after winning six of seven on the trip.
But things are rarely as simple as they appear on paper.
“We won’t have too much time to think about it,” coach Patrick Roy said Wednesday night. “Tomorrow, we’re going to have an optional [practice], and we’re going to play the next day at 3:30. We won’t have time to think too much.
“I feel like a road trip like this should bring energy to our team, and I hope it’s going to bring energy also in the building and the fans are going to be excited about coming to the game.”
The six wins on a single road trip tied a franchise record, with the other such instance coming on a 6-1-0 trip from Feb. 19-March 6, 2016, according to team statistician Eric Hornick.
The Islanders are also four games over NHL-.500 on the road for the first time since Feb. 15, 2020, according to Hornick.
