Is This Real Life?

It was a year ago that the New York Islanders put the hockey world on it's ear. They had surprised a lot of people by not only making the playoffs, but sweeping the Penguins in the opening round. The roster had gone through some changes from the end of last season. Well going into the middle of November, and it looks like the Islanders might get a repeat of last season. Is this jumping the gun? Possibly. But can it happen? Possibly.

As of this writing, the Islanders have a 12 game point streak and won 11 of those 12 games. The one game they didn't win, was an overtime loss to the Penguins after blowing a three goal third period lead. And now they have another test tonight as John Tavares and the Maple Leafs make a trip to the Coliseum in a game that's going to be a good test.

I have to admit, when this year got going I was a little nervous about a couple of things. One was in goal. Thomas Greiss has been fine, which I've come to expect from him during his time with the team. I was nervous about Semyon Varlamov and how well he was going to try and fill the pads of Robin Lehner, who played out of his mind in the Isles net. After the first three games, it looked like the Islanders might have come back down to earth.

Then something happened. The Islanders found there legs. And they just kept winning. It started with a shootout win over the Panthers and a big comeback overtime win over the Blues. And the game that ended the streak, the loss to the Pens, it looked like an old Islanders performance, blowing a lead late in the game. To prove that it wasn't going to keep happening, the Isles got back to their winning ways a couple nights later in beating the Panthers.

That's why I said tonight's game is going to be a real test. Toronto is still a very good team and are still expected to be a heavy hitter come playoff time in the East. Yes, this is asking a lot of the Islanders to keep playing at this level the entire year. As long as they can keep the bad nights to a minimum, then they should be in good shape.

And that's why I'm saying I am a little surprised and very happy. Most teams that are serious cup contenders have at least two superstar elite players. New York has one in Matthew Barzal. That's it for elite level talent. There's no Robin to the Barzal Batman. At least not right now I feel, Once they can get that, this team will be a serious threat. I do like what I'm seeing on Long Island.