I knew it, you knew it, they knew it - practically everyone knew that the Islanders needed a win this dreary, rainy Christmas Eve-eve afternoon. They couldn’t lose again. There had to be another way, they said. And it was a blue and orange Festivus miracle, thanks mostly to Mathew Barzal’s feats of strength and Jaroslav Halak’s airing of grievances with his recent play.
Things kicked off pretty quickly after the Islanders, flying out of the gate were granted a power play less than a minute-and-a-half into the game. They made swift use of it, with some pretty passing that lead to Anders Lee’s 22nd tally of the season, and a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in.