Playing down to competition was an especially frustrating feature of the Islanders during Lane Lambert’s first year at the helm.
That has been replaced by a better, albeit also frustrating, characteristic this year.
The Islanders play close games. Against everybody.
More evidence on that front was piled on by the Islanders on Wednesday night as they beat the Ducks 4-3 on Simon Holmstrom’s shorthanded winner, making a dramatic victory out of one that should have been straightforward.
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They entered the third period tied at two — because that is what this team does.
More than that, they went down 3-2 at the 5:07 mark, with Sam Carrick capitalizing on Robert Bortuzzo’s turnover to finish off the rush and put Anaheim in the lead.
But the pressure around Anaheim’s net that the Islanders had for much of the night continued.
And so too did the Islanders’ run of success on the power play, as Mat Barzal’s left-circle one-timer on the man-advantage tied the game back at three with 12:14 to go.
It looked like the Ducks would get a chance to strike back with a power play of their own after Bortuzzo was called for tripping with 1:45 to go.
But Anaheim was almost immediately whistled for a delayed penalty, allowing the Islanders to promptly flip the script — as Holmstrom scored on the rush before the play was blown dead.
That did force the Islanders to keep killing off what became a six-on-four power play after Anaheim pulled goaltender John Gibson.
But unlike two nights earlier when Toronto pulled Martin Jones, the Islanders survived the final, nervous seconds of the match.
Two points, though, is two points — and the Islanders keep on getting two points.
This season-long six-game homestand started in exactly the wrong way with a blown lead and overtime loss against San Jose.
Since then, the Islanders have played nothing but good. Wednesday, though, offered their most complete game.
The Islanders owned possession of the puck. Their shot-suppression was excellent.
This was one of the youngest teams in the league against a veteran squad and the Islanders indeed made it look like men versus boys through the early goings.
Constant pressure paid off just 40 seconds into the second period as Kyle Palmieri’s one-timer beat Gibson after Hudson Fasching forced an Anaheim turnover behind the net.
Casey Cizikas would double the lead at the 6:32 mark, playing catch with Cal Clutterbuck on a breakaway until he finished the play by scoring.
But the lead did not last long, as the Islanders continued their season-long habit of letting multi-goal cushions wear away.
Troy Terry pulled Anaheim back within one just over a minute after Cizikas’ goal, scoring on the power play with a shot that banked off Robert Bortuzzo’s skate and pinballed between the legs of Semyon Varlamov.
Adam Henrique then scored on a broken play of his own, with Urho Vaakanainen’s shot off a broken stick falling to him alone in front, making for an easy goal.
Unlike earlier this season, though, the Islanders could take care of business in the third.
In a first period where the Islanders held a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal, the closest they came to doing that was when Mike Reilly appeared to stuff his own rebound through Gibson’s pads at the 8:22 mark to put them ahead 1-0.
But Anaheim coach Greg Cronin challenged, the goal was called back for goaltender interference.
This, however, was not a good period the Islanders let go to waste.
It was a start on the way to four wins in a row and to 9-1-2 since Nov. 18.
Before that date, you might have worried about the Islanders lapsing into old habits against a team like this.
Now, it all feels routine.