They absolutely needed that one.
With a friendly out-of-town scoreboard (the Canadiens beat the Flyers, the Hurricanes beat the Red Wings, and the Maple Leafs beat the Capitals), the New York Islanders were able to make up ground on their direct competitors for either third in the Metropolitan Division or the second wild card spot. They’re now 4 points back of Washington and 5 points behind Philadelphia (with two games in hand) so this could really come down to the wire.
There were some big nights from guys the Isles could really use some scoring from down this stretch, too.