After stinking it up in their season opener the Islanders have bounced back and managed to move up to the most average record you can get going 3-3-3 in their last nine. A series of moves was executed to shake things up, one of which was moving Cross Hanas down to third line wing which actually proved to be a solid move thus far as the third line of Bolduc, Hanas, and Robins put up six goals, and nine assists combine in the last eight games. The line is showing excellent chemistry together for the foreseeable future. Where this team really needs to show up is their top line featuring Howden, Panarin, Reichel, the trio has been very pedestrian so far after playing together in the past few seasons with great success, they may just need time to get going which is a good sign for the Islanders moving forward as the team hopes to take a positive step forward after finishing in the bottom eight last two seasons. From longer practices leading to more reps, more drills to sharpen skills to team dinners every night this team wants to build that chemistry and brotherhood that they hope will lead to a great start and a stronger finish to reach their ultimate goal of getting into the playoffs again, a feat that has eluded them thus far into the Vanturennout era. There is little margin for error with this team and cannot afford to be in the lower part of the standings at the half way point, eventually the push needs to come sometime so we will continue to monitor the journey and report weekly for the fans.
6/27/2026 - 277 words
